A Half-Demon Prince's Journey
by VictoryScythefang
Summary: After closing the Gehenna Gate and Yukio's demonic side awakening, Rin's life is almost back to sub-normal for the spawn of Satan. But while controlling a water demon migration, things become complicated. Especially when Rin has to make it out of Gehenna and find his friends that may or may no be trapped there with him, all the while avoiding his demonic family.
1. Chapter 1: On A Winter's Night

**Woohoo, first anime/manga fanfic! Sorry this chapter is so short, and boring and a prelude to the rest of the story, but not everything can be a combustible half-demon setting things on fire. **

**I hope you like it!**

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Chapter 1: On A Winter's Night

Snow drifted lazily to the ground on a crisp December day, muffling the _pitter_ _patter_ of tiny feet. A small shape vaulted around a tree, a blanket fluttering out behind it, grasped in a small, clawed hand. The hobgoblin huffed, it's breath condensing in the cold air as its tail whipped frantically. It hopped over a holly bush and continued towards a snow-covered outcrop, it's feet slapping against the snow and its eyes narrowed in determination. Without a even a slight hesitation it jumped straight of the outcropping, sustained a wobbly and uneven flight, and all but fell into the cave mouth at the bottom of a small hill.

The hobgoblin's head bounced as it entered the main chamber of the cave, beautiful flowers brushing against its underbelly and legs. The walls were illuminated by the soft blue glow of crystals, brought straight from Satan's palace in Gehenna so they reflected the color of his flames. A bed was in the center of the cave, surrounded by violets and emerald grass. A woman lay on the bed, clothed a simple dress, her heavy cassock and thick scarf thrown to the side in an attempt to cool down. She was now shivering, her hands clenched into fists. Two snowmen and another hobgoblins sat at the foot of her bed, making soothing noises and giving her bowls of melted snow to try and make her comfortable.

The hobgoblin with the blanket hurriedly bounded to the woman's bed, and with the help of the other three demons, gently pulled the blanket over her. The hobgoblin hummed in the back of its throat, like a mother to a child in pain, and tenderly tucked the blanket around the woman, careful to not hurt her or make her the slightest bit uncomfortable.

"Thank you so much," she murmured softly, her trembling hand rubbing the goblin's head.

_Please_ _be_ _okay_, _Queen_ _Yuri_, the smaller hobgoblin thought, its telepathic voice reaching the woman.

"I'll be alright. I told you to stop calling me 'Queen', goofball," Yuri said teasingly, her voice still quiet as she reached towards the smaller goblin. It got the message and scurried forward, allowing her to stroke its small horns. It suddenly looked up at her with wide eyes.

_We'll always be friends, right Your Majesty?_

Yuri chuckled and tickled the little gobbling behind the horns, "Of course. But you really don't have to call me that." She smiled for a second before her face contorted in pain. The four demons that surrounded her lurched forwards in alarm.

"I'm okay, it's just–" the woman groaned and flopped back onto the bed. "Would you happen to have any more water?" She asked, sweat breaking out on her face as one of the snowmen brought her a bowl full of melted snow. She gratefully took it, dipping one hand in and brushing the water on her face.

_What's_ _happening?_ The smaller hobgoblin asked, peeking over the rim of the bowl and at Yuri's stomach. _Is_ _the_ _Prince_ _coming?_

The Queen of Gehenna merely nodded, holding her stomach gingerly. The demons all looked at each other before the small hobgoblin turned back towards Yuri. _We'll help you with whatever you need._

"Do we have any towels or small blankets?" She asked. The larger hobgoblin headed towards the farthest corner of the cave, bringing out a box full of towels. A small blue baby blanket sat neatly folded on top.

_Lord Amaimon thought that these may come in handy. He also said that there was an extra blanket inside the box in case the first one wasn't enough to keep the baby warm, _the demon stated, dragging the box to the foot of Yuri's bed.

"I'll have to thank him if I ever get the chance," she thought aloud, staring absentmindedly at one of the blue crystals that decorated the cave.

"You all lived in Gehenna. What's it like there?"

The demons in the cave room stopped preparing for the baby, looking towards their queen. One of the snowmen stepped forward and raised his snowy arms. _It's massive, my Queen. The clouds there are as violet as these flowers, and the sky, _it paused for a moment to look for the right comparison. _The sky is a deep purple, the color of dusk here in Assiah. The streets are illuminated with lights of all colors, and demons are everywhere; in the air, on the ground. The youngling's run and chase each other around, while the elder demons talk about possessions and events. Overall, it's a wonderful place. At least, for us demons._

Yuri wholeheartedly smiled, looking down at the snowman from her spot on the bed. "It sounds amazing. I wonder if the demons there would be fine with a human there." The demons present in the room were about to protest when Yuri groaned again, twisting around on the bed, causing them to continue their tasks of getting ready to deliver the child.

"It's coming," the demon queen groaned, causing both snowmen to rush forward and each take one of her hands. The smaller hobgoblin flung itself to the box of towels and grabbed an armload, picking up the baby blanket with its tail. The other goblin sat at the foot of Yuri's bed and made comforting hums at the back of its throat.

A few minutes later the Princes of Gehenna were born.

The smaller hobgoblin finished drying off the older child with a towel and set him down in the blue baby blanket, carefully wrapping it around him, cautious of his blue flames. The other hobgoblin then took the child and cradled him close to its chest as the younger one was being dried off and wrapped in the spare blanket.

_He's so warm, _the hobgoblin holding the older twin murmured, before jumping slightly and turning towards Yuri. _I'm sorry, my Lady, I just–_

"It's alright. What do you think of him?" She reassured, craning her neck to look at the newborns. The hobgoblin handed Yuri her eldest son, answering, _He feels so soft and warm. I think he'll grow up to be a good demon._

Yuri turned towards the other twin, watching as he was snuggled up tightly into a blanket and then handed to her.

Four faces crowded around Yuri to looked at the children. The blue flames that engulfed one flickered weakly as his younger brother gurgled softly, their mother holding them close.

_Oh, oh! What're their names gonna be? _the smaller snowman asked, hanging from the side of Yuri's bed.

She thought for a second before looking down at her sons. The one with the flames shifted slightly in his blankets before giggling, the younger child now in a deep slumber. Yuri smiled, pulling them a little closer, "I think I'll call the one with the flames Rin, and his brother, the one without flames, Yukio." She carefully unwrapped the younger twin from his blanket, gazing at his left arm. While both sons possessed slightly pointed ears, only one had apparently inherited the power of their father. Or so, Yuri had first thought.

The Queen of Gehenna traced a finger over her younger son's arm. It was covered with pale red swirls that almost resembled scales, his small fingers tipped with tiny claws.

Yuri re-wrapped the blanket around the child, pulling both him and his brother closer. She turned towards the demons in the cave as if to say something when voices could be heard off in the distance. With an unspoken agreement, the two snowmen moved for the front of the cave. The hobgoblins were about to join them when Yuri whispered, "Wait."

They turned to face her, worry shining in their green eyes. "Please. If anything happens to me, please protect and watch after them." She pleaded with the goblins. They both nodded and retreated to opposite sides of Yuri's pillow, the larger one comfortingly stroking her hair.

_Of course, my Queen. But it doesn't mean we won't leave your side. We promise._

Yuri gave a small smile, her eyes tearing up. "Thank you both so much. All of you." She lay back against her pillows and closed her eyes, waiting for the exorcist and the demon king to enter her chamber. She already knew Mephisto understood and, while it didn't seem like it, cared for demons. Shiro though, he'd never really given a demon a second thought, much less give one a chance to get close to him. With the exception of Mephisto, of course. The demon king had changed him, and Yuri knew that her sons would too.

She saw the two figures approach her bed and she felt the smile find its way onto her face. She was hoping she would have had the chance to bade farewell to these two before seeing her husband. They'd been her most welcoming friends in the Vatican, even before this whole "wife of the Devil" fiasco, they'd been understanding and caring. They were kinda like the Three Compadres, always sticking together and looking out for one another.

Yuri then though about the newborns. She smiled slightly, looking down upon their tiny faces. The larger hobgoblin was correct, she could sense that the elder twin would make a fine demon. But Yuri knew that both sons would not only become powerful demons, but powerful human beings as well. Maybe not in their human nature as much as their demon nature, but they would be able to change the opinions of many.

Yuri sighed, before wishing them both luck in the world of Assiah; the last thing out of the Queen of Gehenna's mouth before her head slipped back against the pillows and her eyes grew distant as she passed on.

"Be strong and live. Show everyone that humans and demons can live together peacefully."

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**Can't wait till I get the next chapter done. I promise it will be much more...active...I guess. *shrugs***

**Oh, and a shout-out to a REALLY good story, Prince of Beasts by xfireflyskyx. Seriously, you gotta read it. **

**Read, review and reply!**

**Yours in soul, spirit, and blue flames,**

** -VictoryScythefang**


	2. Chapter 2: A Blue Flame Among Friends

**NEXT CHAPTER! Yup, so, as promised, this will be a more dynamic chapter, and be in Rin's perspective. Aw yeah! **

**Again, you should really check out xfireflyskyx's Prince of Beasts. It doesn't disappoint.**

**So without further ado, I give you chapter two!**

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Chapter 2: A Blue Flame Among Friends

"Just serve the ball already, Suguro!"

"I'm working on it, Okumura! Jeez!"

The sand squelched under my feet as I dashed forward and was able to hit the volleyball over the net in the nick of time.

"Point for demon speed!" Shima called from Bon's side of the net before slamming it back over. The ball flew towards Konekomaru and hit him square in the face, causing him to stumble backwards and the rest of us to flinch with sympathy.

"Foul!" I shouted at Shima and dashed to my friend's side. "You okay?"

"Um, yeah," Konekomaru muttered through a mouthful of volleyball and took my outstretched hand. I pulled him off his butt with a little too much force, causing him to stumble forwards. He centered himself, pulled off his glasses and cleaned them with the edge of his swim trunks.

"Maybe we should take a break from volleyball," I asked Shima and Bon, who had came over to check on their comrade. I watched as the latter's face turn even more sour then usual. I was about to ask him what the problem was when I realized my tail had been flicking in agitation and I quickly stilled it.

Bon gave a satisfied nod and opened his mouth to speak when a bucket of water was thrown at his back. A second later his two-toned hair was lying flat across his head and water was cascading off his shoulders while a maniacal yet feminine laugh sounded from behind us. We all turned to see Shura bent over and her body racking, a large bucket sitting idly by next to her feet. Its victim, on the other hand, was anything but idle as he stalked over to a large cooler we had brought with us on our school beach "field trip".

"What're you gonna do, kiddo? Throw a–" she didn't finish her sentence as a large green water balloon hit her right in the forehead. I looked and saw that Bon, who normally had an angry scowl on his face, was wearing an uncharacteristic smirk and tossing another water balloon up and down in his hand.

Our Magic Circles and Summoning teacher straightened and whipped toward an extravagantly shaded beach chair, her wet bangs hanging over her eyes. "Mephisto! Why the hell did you give those kids water balloons?"

The demon in question looked up from a book and stared at Shura. "Why wouldn't I? Today is supposed to be an off-day for everyone, isn't it?" And with that he hid his face behind the book once more, making it clear he didn't want to be disturbed. She blinked, either to get the water out of her eyes or to register what Mephisto had just said, before regaining her poster and her attitude.

"Why, Mister Suguro, how completely out of character for you," Shura said smugly while we waited for her to finish her statement. "Alright everyone! To demonstrate how you should never let your guard down, and to have tactical practice, I give you this assignment." Other teachers who had came with us glanced over at her. "Water balloon fight!"

The beach erupted into absolute chaos as brightly colored orbs flew threw the air, much to Mephisto's obvious pleasure.

I should probably explain why we were all at the beach. First of all, it wasn't exactly an "off-day" as the clown had said; it actually was a two day mission that involved us Exquires controlling a migration of water demons that were coming through the area. We were a day early, so Mephisto had allowed us to have fun and unwind while we waited for the demons. Thus we now were now running amok on the Academy's beach, causing such a commotion that even my biological "father" (I flinch every time I refer to Satan that way) would be impressed.

After several minutes, the sand beneath our feet was a rainbow catastrophe of dead water balloons, leading to a long and boring clean-up. And of course Ms. Kirigakure opted to play on her hand-held game station instead of helping us. A half-an-hour and some grumbling later, we had cleaned up the beach, leaving everyone free to do as they please.

I was about to make my way over to the diving rock that Shima had found earlier when a ball of fluff hurtled at my face, completely covering it.

"Rin!"

"Hi, Kuro!" I said cheerfully, prying him off of my face. Something about the little energetic cat demon just seemed to make me so incredibly giddy that I couldn't stop grinning.

"Your face looks weird; did you get hurt or something?" Kuro's telepathic voice asked in my mind, his tiny paws pressing against my collarbone as he cocked his head to look at me. I laughed and scuffed his head so his ears flopped all over the place. My familiar's mouth twisted into a lopsided smile and he purred when I scratched him between the horns.

"What happened with Mephisto? I thought I told you to stay with him today," I asked, feeling his split tail brush across my cheek as he settled on my shoulder.

"Well, I tried to talk with him, but Lord Mephisto likes to talk about strange things. Then I tried napping: on the ground, near the edge of his lawn chair, I even tried on his lap for Shiro's sake! But I couldn't get to sleep no matter hard I tried," Kuro's ears drooped a little as he talked, his tails sweeping restlessly across the back of my neck. "The air just feels supercharged, doesn't it, Rin? I could feel it, and I know Lord Mephisto felt it. The way he sat, the line of his mouth; he knows something's going on. But I wanted to make sure you felt it before I asked him."

Now that Kuro had mentioned it, I felt more alert than usual. My ears were pricked and my tail swished in some sort of anxious determination; but what for, I didn't know. "Yeah, I feel it bud, but we just gotta keep our eyes out," I said as I scratched between his horns again. "In the mean time, the guys found a really cool diving rock. Wanna come with me to check it out?"

Kuro nodded enthusiastically, his nervousness about the tension or whatever forgotten. I smiled at his attitude and felt his tiny feet move around on my shoulders before he suddenly put his front paws on top of my disheveled hair, his chin resting on my head. "Alright, let's go!" Kuro happily cheered from his perch and I took off running. He giggled every time I jumped or changed direction and by the time we reached the rock we were both laughing our tails off.

"Glad to see you could finally make it," Bon said sarcastically. I was about to retort when Konekomaru spoke (read: squealed).

"Hey, Kuro! I have the toy you like so much," he said as brought out the feathered stick and began to shake it lightly for emphasis.

"Yay! He's got the toy, he's got the toy!" My familiar chanted excitedly in my mind before rocketing of my shoulder and towards Konekomaru, who began to play with him. I gave a small snort of laughter, turning toward Shima and Bon as I did so.

"Come on up, we haven't dived off anyways," Shima shouted down at me. Man, that rock was actually pretty damn tall!

I clambered up onto the diving rock, swearing as I did so. "How'd you guys get up here so fast?" I asked when I reached them, partly out of breath from climbing and partly from cussing. Shima pointed to the other side of the rock, trying to smother a laugh as he replied, "We took the stairs."

I poked my head over the other side of the rock, feeling my blue flames dangerously swell up inside me when I saw stones lying next to the diving rock were arranged in a sort of staircase leading up to were my head was.

"And why didn't you tell me this?" My voice was barely calm when Bon answered.

"Because the spawn of Satan needed exercise and didn't ask."

I calmed down considerably, feeling a fangs-on-show grin seep its way onto my face. "Fine, maybe was my fault. But don't expect me to not dish out payback later," I said and narrowed my eyes. "And don't call me that."

Bon shrugged before Shima threw him off the rock. He screamed as he splashed into the water, spluttering swears when his head reemerged though we couldn't here him over our laughter.

I was about to say something about how Bon screamed like a girl when my vision suddenly went black, reappearing to what looked like a different scene.

A deep purple sky was overhead, a few wisps of violet clouds floating across it. Underneath me was a rock larger than the one I had been on, and standing next to me was someone. I felt my blood go cold when I saw it was Amaimon, king of earth, who was with me on the rock. I waited for him to notice me, but he seemed too preoccupied to try and kill me. He was making a strange noise, something between a hiccup, an exhale, and a snort. I blinked, realizing it was a laugh. Amaimon, Lord of the Poker Face, was bent double where Shima had been standing earlier, cracking up at something.

"What the hell, Amaimon?" Someone screeched from below us. I looked down to see Astaroth, king of rot, in a large body of water and soaking wet. His white hair was plastered to his face, his fangs twisted in a pissed snarl. I looked up and saw that there were others on the rock with us, one of them being Mephisto.

"Good one, Amai-kun!" One of the demons standing with us chuckled. He had dark hair and sea-green eyes, with the build of an Olympic swimmer. He had on an outfit similar to Mephisto's and Amaimon's, only made out of sea-colored fabrics with a blue robe over his shoulders. One of his hands were shoved into his pocket, large fangs on display with an ear-to-ear grin as he slapped the king of earth on his back with his other clawed hand.

"Thank you for the complement, brother." Amaimon managed, stifling his laughter. I never thought he was capable of any emotion that didn't involve the thrill of the hunt, but he was actually happy, with no calculating malice behind his smile. I glanced at Mephisto, who was also acting uncharacteristically. The king of time didn't look like he was planning anything, nor did he look like he was laughing at the struggles of others. I took that back when I heard Astaroth swear angrily from the water.

I felt a sudden wave of giddiness that I chuckled, then broke into full-out laughter. It was one of those laughs that only show themselves when you spend time with close friends and family. As I stood there cracking up on the edge of the rock with seven of the eight demon kings of Gehenna, I realized that I felt the same way I did whenever we'd have holidays at the monastery with the old man and all of the guys, or when me, Yukio, and Kuro would have little family dinners with Ramune chugging contests and chopsticks battles, or even whenever I had fun with my friends, like today on the beach. I felt like I was having a good time together with family.

I know that the eight kings were my brothers, but it wasn't like I could go talk to Mephisto in a brotherly way. For a second, I thought about what life may have been like if I had sunk to Gehenna the day I drew the Koma sword. Would life be like this?

I shook my head to clear the thought, and I was back on the rock with Shima and Bon, who was chewing out his attacker.

I smiled at the scene, running over to shove Bon back off the rock. "Spawn of the Devil!" He screamed as he fell again as we split our sides with laughter. I guess I'm fine with how things turned out; after all, I wouldn't have these awesome friends or have all these fun memories. The Exquires at True Cross were my family, as well as Yukio and Mephisto. If things hadn't turned out this way, then it would've never had the chance to meet Kuro, I would've never been able to laugh about Mr. Subaki's calls to a mysterious "Kitty-Cat", and I would've never been able to finally get real friends.

I forgot about the vision I had gotten and cannon-balled off the rock, splashing Bon with a wave of water.

"Oh, you're gonna get it now, Okumura!" He yelled, kicking up a wave of water with his feet. Not long after, Shima and Konekomaru joined us, followed by Izumo, Shura and Shiemi, who was dragging Yukio in with her by the arm. I turned my fire towards my brother, causing him to get soaked. Everyone was laughing and splashing each other as Mephisto floated on a raft nearby, warning us not to get him wet. Soon all Exorcist teachers, students, and familiars were screwing around in the water, having fun on this rare off-day.

The rest of the day I spent time with my friends, everyone having as much fun as possible since we knew that tomorrow a big job was coming up.

We had no idea how big, or disastrous, it would be.

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**Yays, second chapter is done! Sorry it's kinda anti-climactic (And not exactly what I promised), but it's called "Setup" for a reason. I will be sprinkling in fun/family scenes like this throughout the fic, so if you have any ideas for one, just tell me and I'll credit you.**

**Yours in soul, spirit, and blue flame,**  
**VictoryScythefang**


	3. Chapter 3: Water Over The Bridge

**Heyo! Third chapter time, guys!**

**Thank you so much for some awesome reviews1 *tail flicks in happiness***

**So here's where we stop doing so much cushy scenes and do some action, finally! *blue flame horns sprout from head***

**Here's three! Read and review please, but no flames. That's what Rin is for ;)**

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Chapter 3: Water Over The Bridge

The next morning was cold and hazy with the air full of swirling white mist. I stepped out of the tent I was sharing with Yukio and stretched, yawning as I did so. All I had on was a fleecy pair of pajama pants and a thin white shirt. My bare feet began to go numb when I walked over the wet sand towards the water's edge, it's small waves gently lapping at the beach. I cupped some inky black watering splashed my face to try and wake up with no avail. Sighing as I sat back on the balls of my feet, I blinked at my reflection in the water. My reflection stared back as another figure appeared on the mirror-like surface.

"Gah! Mephisto?" I yelped, whirling around to see my mentor and guardian standing behind me, staring out over the water's calm surface. He was without his robe and top hat, making him look calm and relaxed. The vision of the diving rock from yesterday flashed in my mind, and the clown looked the same now as he did then; a serene air surrounded him as though he was in one of his time pockets and untroubled by what went on around him. I stared at the director, who in-turn gazed out across the water. The only way to tell if he wasn't a statue was the shallow rise of his chest, his Knights of the True Cross pin catching the rising sun's light. Without taking his emerald eyes off the horizon, he spoke, his voice so soft that a normal person would have trouble hearing it. One of the benefits of being the half-breed child of Satan was that you had no problem hearing quiet noises.

"Do you ever just stop and stare at the world in moments like this, brother Okumura?" I was surprised he referred to me as his brother; something that he rarely ever did. I blinked and looked out over the water. I could just barely make out a spec in the far distance that must've been the migration we were supposed to control.

"I used to, when I was younger. I remember when me and Yukio were maybe seven or eight dad once took us up to the monastery roof to watch a sunset. It was one of the coolest things I've ever seen," I said, remembering the moment fondly. The hues of red and purple tinged with the fading blue of daylight was beautiful, and it was something I won't ever forget.

I then sat criss-crossed on the sand, my tail curling around my legs as if to keep me warm. I was quiet as I absentmindedly played with the tuft of fur on the end of my tail. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Mephisto take a deep sip from a teacup levitating near him. I hadn't seen it before, so he must've just summoned it while I had been talking.

My older brother–just saying it was weird–took a deep inhale of a air before slowly exhaling, still not looking at me. "Being a demon king away from Assiah has been a thrilling and entertaining experience. But," he paused, leaving me to wonder why he was telling me this before continuing, "I miss our family, Rin. I know you think of them as monsters, but if you met them I believe that you would like them."

I sat there, shocked that Mephisto would say something like that. And in front of me, of all people! Or demons, whatever.

My guardian sighed, regaining his composure. "What am I saying? All these sleepless nights here in Assiah are taking their toll on me. Maybe I should go back to Gehenna for a good rest, even if just for a day," he muttered to himself, appearing as though he forgot I was there.

Mephisto finally shifted his gaze to me, his slitted emerald eyes boring into my rounded fiery blue ones. I saw that his hands were gloveless, showing his purple-black painted claws as he took another sip of his tea.

"One day you'll understand, Rin. Maybe sooner rather than later, but you'll understand what being a son of Satan really means. You'll meet the rest of the family and..." the demon trailed off, and I just could see his tail fidgeting in agitation under his clothes.

I wondered why Mephisto was acting so weird when it hit me. I felt strange as well, like something huge was coming, and yesterday Kuro had said something about how the air felt "supercharged". I cast a glance at the demon king standing next to me, who was now staring back out across the water.

"Hey, Mephisto, uh," I suddenly had a flash of Amaimon's voice calling the clown something, even though I swore I had never heard it before. "Uh, big brother?" Saying it was like speaking a foreign language for the first time; it didn't really click. It felt so wrong, yet so right to call the powerful demon next to me "big brother", even though I had never felt a brotherly link between us.

I saw the king of time cast a startled look at me, making me feel like a small child. Which I guess I kinda was compared to him. I hesitated before continuing, choosing my words carefully.

"Kuro had said something about feeling on the edge, like the air was 'charged' or something. He also said you knew something about it. Is anything gonna happen?" I asked faintly, the both of us back to staring out at the water's surface as the sun began to rise in the sky. I heard the rustle of fabric and before I knew it, Mephisto was sited cross-legged next to me on the sand.

"Your familiar is right. There is something coming up. But best not to worry about it right now, Rin," he said quietly. He reached out a hand and awkwardly scuffed my messy hair. I felt my body go rigid with shock from the action; it was something that no one had done to me since the old man had died. It was actually one of the last normal things the old man had done before he died.

I felt tears well up in my eyes when I thought of my dad, but I brushed them away with the back of my hand. "Yeah, you're right," I mumbled as I stood up, Mephisto following suit.

"I'm gonna, uh, go get dressed in actual clothes. Thanks for that, um," I hesitated, thinking of what title to finish that sentence with. I was still confused from the demon king's uncharacteristic actions, and unsure of what to say.

Mephisto clasped a cold hand on my shoulder. Usually, I'd shiver away from his chilly touch, but it didn't seem to bug me anymore.

"Of course. But let's keep us between us, okay little brother?" He asked, his usual façade returning. I nodded and headed back to my tent, wondering if I could still catch a few hours of sleep. I turned around when I reached the entrance to the tent to watch Mephisto. My eyes widened when I saw a very dark purple tail tipped with a tuft of lighter colored fur being tucked under his shirt, out of sight of others, of non-demons. But not before I caught a glimpse of it.

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A few hours later, we were preparing for the migration. And I was going through my own personal hell.

"A little more over to the left, Okumura," Mephisto called teasingly from his floating plush chair. I growled some of the things that, once upon a time, my old man would flood my mouth with soap for and moved the lantern over to the left.

"Now the right."

"A tad more."

"Too far! Too far! Too far will ruin the control of the migration!"

"Back a little bit."

"Perfect! Stop there! Right there is fine!"

By the time Mephisto had found the perfect spot, I was extremely hot and a little sweaty and all-around not in a good mood. I dropped the lantern with disgust and glared daggers at the demon king smirking at me. He had regained his usual attitude and whatever brotherly empathy from before was completely gone, replaced with his old, aggravating self.

I clenched my fists and used every ounce of self-control I had to try and keep my blue flames from spewing around me. Wouldn't that would make a good show for the director of the Academy.

I turned around to find that most of the barriers and seals to keep the migration on its path were set up. Shiemi and Izumo had summoned their familiars, and the guys were prepared to recite verses to drive the demons off. I gripped the handle of the Koma sword tightly, ready to draw it at a moment's notice.

Us Exwires had been instructed not to kill any demons unless they purposely attacked, and were instead supposed to redirect any wanderers back on their migration path. The Exorcists were on standby in case anything got out of control or became too much for us to handle.

The first demons came into sight, some above the water, while others were below. Waves crashed in the migration's wake as tails and fins, dripping with foamy water, disturbed the water's once calm surface.

"Get ready!" Bon shouted, his hands clasped together, ready to begin chanting the barrier sutra. Konekomaru copied his movement as Shima raised his Kirek, at the oncoming demonic fleet. "Now!"

Three things happened at once; Shiemi and Izumo had their familiars begin to creat waves in an attempt to buffet the demons in the right direction, I drew Kurikara and lit the lantern, and the guys started chanting and setting up the barrier between the migration and the beach.

Everything was going smoothly until someone yelled, "Sea Serpent!" and the sands erupted into panic. Suddenly, more voices flooded the air to help enforce the barrier, and two more familiars were summoned to help with the waves.

"Kuro, can you help them?" I called and the demon streaked past me.

"'Course I can, Rin!" He said determinedly as he became more demonic. Wading into the waves, he began pounding his tails against the water and splashing his paws down, creating larger waves. I smiled proudly on the inside as I watched him. That's my Kuro for you; an always happy-to-help, high-class demon guardian.

"Rin!" I turned around to see Yukio jogging towards me, one hand holding one of his guns and the other waving me over. I ran to him, my flames still flickering around me.

"What's up, bro?" I asked as my tail flicked restlessly. I could tell Yukio's was having trouble staying calm under his shirt; I kept seeing the fabric twitch all of a sudden, as if the furry tuft beneath it was extremely nervous about something. I'd only seen this once before, and it was when my brother was mad at me for not studying for a math test. He was so angry that his brown–almost black–tail actually came out from under his shirt and whipped back and forth furiously. I remember seeing it and wondering "Is that what I look like when I'm mad?" He'd acknowledged it a second later, staring at his own tail like it was some foreign object. I had sighed, telling him about how your tail showed your emotions.

"A large Sea Serpent has appeared. It's obviously the leader of the migration, and it's heading straight for us. Sir Pheles is trying to redirect it, but he hasn't been able to get it off our scent. They wanted me to tell you to be on guard; either to exorcise it or be prepared to run."

"Run? Why?" I asked, puzzled and angry at the same time. There was no way in hell I'd run away from a fight. Especially one my friends were fighting hard in as well.

"It may be after you," my twin replied simply, pushing his glasses farther up his nose.

"Us, man," I corrected him. He growled, a noise that came very easily to the two of us, and pointed towards where I had been standing before.

"Just go."

I held up my hands in a submissive gesture and returned to the spot I'd been standing in. From there I could now see a long, serpentine neck stretched out of the water with jagged fins arcing from its head and under the ocean to where the rest of its body was. Whistling appreciatively, I realized that Yukio hadn't been kidding around. That thing was _massive_!

As the Sea Serpent approached, a wailing screech echoed across the beach. A second of still silence followed, before the humongous demon reared out of the water. It's once gray-green scales now shone blue from the Satanic flames enveloping it as it charged us, it's hellfire eyes fixated on our group.

"Move!" Someone screamed, and that made my body shudder into action. Racing towards the demon, I jumped and slashed downwards with my sword. It had created a much stronger blast then I'd thought as it cut straight through the rampaging serpent, sending demon blood everywhere. I landed on the balls of my feet in the shallows, smiling from ear-to-pointed-ear as I sheathed Kurikara.

I heard relieved cheers until Yukio shouted, "Everyone! Evacuate now!"

Why? I had beaten the thing.

Before I could say anything a huge blob of blood landed on the sand in front of me and I realized why Yukio sounded so panicked. Satan had possessed the Sea Serpent, therefore that wasn't just any demon' blood. It was...

Oops.

As if on cue, a huge rumble that could probably be felt all the way in Gehenna shook the beach, causing people to lose their footing. The sickening red substance bubbled and gurgled, then began to hysterically shriek as puddles of it thickly ran together. And I was standing right at the center of it.

"Rin, run!" Yukio shouted at me, doubling back to help me before the Gehenna Gate fully formed. I dashed for his hand as small blobby faces started emerging from the pool of blood.

I had almost reached Yukio when the ground rumbled again. My friends, who had followed my stupid little brother to help grab me before the Gate took hold, wobbled and fell to the ground as the shaking intensified. The Gehenna Gate suddenly lurched and surged outwards.

"No!" I heard my voice scream, but it sounded far away. Looking down with dread, I saw my legs knee-deep in black goop. I couldn't draw my sword since it was stuck to my back, and before I could see what happened to my friends black tendrils wrapped around my face, arms, and stomach.

"Just give up, son. Everything will be alright," I heard Satan's voice whisper gently in my ear, but I was to far gone to really notice. The last thing I remembered before I was pulled down to Gehenna was the look of terror on my friends' faces and knowing that I'd caused it.

* * *

**MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA cliff hanger *does hobgoblin dance***

**Does anyone else think hobgoblins are totally adorable? 'Cause I do!**

**So how do y'all like so far? Review, please! *says desperately!***

**If anyone has any ideas, then just review or PM. And to SnakeGirl101 (boss username by the way), yeah, there's gonna be some Rin/Yuki bonding time. No, it's not gonna be Yaoi, sorry.**

**Yours in spirit, soul, and blue flames,**

**VictoryScythefang**


	4. Chapter 4: In Your Caring Arms

**Fourth chapter! Sorry it took longer than usual; school' came back. Blergh. So, I had to make up a random demon for this chapter and IT'S NOT AN OC! Now that we got that cleared up, it was just to get Rin started off on his adventure.**

**Oh my gosh, so painful to write. *tail droops for emphasis***

**Sorry, no Rin and Yuki bonding time yet. BE PATIENT! And to SuperiorDimwit, I hope Rin's more in-character this chapter. It was harder to write like that then I'd originally though. ^^;**

**I apologize now for the crazy amount of dialogue. I know, I know, but it was the only way! I'm sorry. And another thing, the hobgobbies from the first chapter will be coming in soon. Any names for them? I'll credit you too, by the way. Just thought I'd ask**

**Thank you for so many reviews and may Kurikara favor you!**

* * *

Chapter 4: In Your Caring Arms

I woke slowly, feeling something warm and familiar wrapped around me. My hand involuntarily twitched and I felt coarse dirt stick to my fingertips. I groaned, my head spinning and I pushed myself into a sitting position. Blinking wearily, I realized what had felt so familiar.

Blue flames gently flickered around me, licking at my fingers and tail. I could feel my fangs–now fully pointed and razor sharp–in my mouth with a much longer tongue. I looked at my fingers to see claws instead of normal nails, and when I reached up to my ear, I felt the large, demonic ears that usually accompanied my demonic form.

I began to panic, and without realizing it, hugged my knees to my chest. My heart rate sped up; which was bad considering it was already pretty fast when I was a demon. Or looking like one. I don't know what to call it–though Shima's "Demon Mode!" wasn't half bad.

I didn't know what to do, and it looked like my smartass little brother wasn't here to help. Dammit Yukio, where are you when I need you?

In fact, it didn't look like there was anyone else around here at all. I craned my neck up towards the sky to see that it was a deep shade of purple. The trees were hella tall, their black branches ripping through the sky. I glanced back at the ground to see nearly-dead-looking bushes growing on gray dirt.

Despite the majorly depressing scenery, I was beginning to relax. I was alone. Thank God for that.

Just as I thought I was safe and there wasn't anyone around, I heard a gasp. Whirling around, I almost had a demonic version of a stroke.

Standing just a few meters away, a small white fox stared at me. It had a green frill around its neck with a yellow hood tied over top, the brightly colored fabric looking slightly out of place. It was much smaller than Izumo's familiars, though when I looked closer the fox also appeared much younger; it had shorter legs and a tiny-ish muzzle, not to mention it was actually pretty fluffy for a demon. Kinda like those Pomegranate dogs. Pomerasian? Pomah...oh, I give up.

"Unholy mother of...are you? Oh my gosh, I think you are!" The fox said, it's jaw hanging open. "My lost prince, is that you?"

It suddenly bowed deeply, stuttering "I can't believe my eyes! One of the Princes of Gehenna! Wow!"

"Um, hi," I said, embarrassed and stammering almost as much as the tiny demon. It got up, gaping at me. It was honestly pretty cute with its fluffy little snout open wide and showing off tiny teeth.

"I saw a blue glow and came running and-and-and," it searched for something to say, "and you talked to me! You said 'Hi'! Oh my gosh, oh my gosh!" I noticed that the white fox treated the word 'gosh' like it was 'fricken'; leading to a word much worse that people tended to say anyway. I also noticed that it wasn't as tiny as I'd originally thought, since it was at least as big as Kuro when he was cat-size.

I smiled nervously when my "idiotic brain" (as Yukio would call it) finally processed what the fox had said.

"Wait, you saw a blue glow?" I asked, feeling the panic beginning to creep back.

"Yup! It wasn't that bright, considering my burrow is a ways off. But I saw it and came running!" It smiled brightly at me, like a little kid that had just completed a fun scavenger hunt. I know I didn't feel like that.

"Oh crap!" I hissed, hugging my arms around me. The white fox blinked confusedly as I began muttering, "Calm down! C'mon, dammit, calm down!"

I felt my flames ebb away until I sat, panting, on the ground. I looked at my fingers, which weren't claws anymore and felt my ears. They were back to normal, as well as my mouth. I was now back to looking semi-human, which was a relief. My tail happily showed that as it flicked up and down.

"Whoa, what just happened?" I jumped at the sound of the white fox's voice. I'd completely forgot that it was there.

"Uh..." was my wonderful response. After all, it worked pretty well on my teachers.

"Well, you see, I'm, um, how do I explain this, I'm not a full, y'know, demon," I answered, chuckling nervously while thinking ;I am so dead;.

I tensed up, waiting for an angry snarl or something, so I was surprised when I heard "Really? Cool! How'd that happen?"

I blinked, feeling my mouth hanging slightly open. The demon edged closer, seeming more confident now that my flames were gone.

"Uh, my mom was human. And my dad, Satan, was a demon," I nearly kicked myself for saying the obvious. "My mom gave birth to me and my brother fifteen years ago."

"So, if Lord Satan is your dad, then why weren't you raised here in Gehenna?" The white fox asked, staring at me with its ears standing straight up to catch every word. I, on the other hand, was freaking out by what it had just said.

"We're in Gehenna. Like, right now?" I was now feeling the panic return back, full force, and my flames on the edge of reappearing.

"Well, yeah. We're in the edge of the Forest of Time. It's not really cared for, so that's why the trees look so crapesy? Is that how they say it in Assiah?"

I watched the fox trying out different words when I realized what it was trying to say.

"Do you mean crappy?" I tried, before bursting out into laughter.

"Yeah–hey, what's so funny?" The demon demanded as it puffed out its small cheeks.

"N-nothing," I said, trying to stop laughing. "I'm Rin. Rin Okumura. What's your name?"

The white fox seemed surprised by the question, because it jumped suddenly and a red blush spread across its cheeks. "Well, my prince, it's...it's," it trailed off, looking depressed. "Nobody's asked me for my name in a long time."

I felt a surge of sorrow for the demon and patted its head. "Hey, it's alright. So, what is it?"

"Promise you won't laugh?"

"Promise."

"It's Yoko," it said sadly, it ears drooping.

"What's wrong with that?" I asked, blinking in confusion. Yoko looked up at me suddenly, eyes filled with surprise. "I think that that's a perfectly good name."

"For real? The only other person who thinks that is my friend, but he's been gone for a long time," Yoko's ears drooped before she–yes, by now I'd figured out that it was a she–began bawling.

"Hey! What's wrong?" I asked, flinching away from her. Oh crap, did I say something wrong? I could hear Yukio's voice in my head scolding me about how inconsiderate I was sometimes.

"It's just that...ever since my friend had to go...no one's been nice to me...and then, then you came along...and, and," the white fox sniffled pitifully, calming down.

"We can be friends."

Yoko looked shocked. She glanced up at me before showing a toothy grin. "Do you mean it?"

Great job, Rin. First thing in Gehenna and you decide to become friends with a demon. Some Exquire you are. Sheesh, what would the guys say if they saw this?

Ignoring my thoughts, I nodded, "Of course I do!"

Yoko gave a huge smile, leaping onto my lap. "Yay, yay, yay!" She yipped excitedly before stopping cold, saying "I'm so sorry, my prince."

"For what? And you can just call me Rin."

The white fox stared up at me. "You're not mad at me for jumping on you?"

"Why would I? We're friends after all; my friend Kuro jumps on me all the time!" I laughed. It was hard, since I suddenly hit by a longing to see my familiar's smiling face. I wonder what happened to him after the Gehenna Gate opened.

Yoko was about to say something when my stomach rumbled loudly. She looked at it before giggling. Pretty soon we were both laughing.

"You sound hungry. Would you like something to eat?" And with that she emptied one of the two packs belted to her waist. Out tumbled fruits and veggies and nuts that I'd never seen before.

We picked out different things to eat and began stuffing our faces (and muzzles). Some things were berries from Assiah, like a fat strawberry that Yoko had never seen and a cluster of grapes she nearly choked on. Other things I couldn't identify were also in my pile.

"What's this?" I asked, holding up a green, coconut-looking thing as I was finishing a tomato we'd found buried at the bottom of the pile.

"Oh, that's a fangfruit," my fox friend replied as she gobbled up a purple, star-shaped nut. "You eat it like this."

She sunk her fangs into the hard shell. I thought for sure that she couldn't pierce it, but to my surprise her teeth net straight through. Then, she awkwardly used her paws to pry it open. A blood-like substance was inside, along with a white piece of fruit. She ate the fruit first before lapping up the blood stuff.

"Aw, ew, that's edible?" I asked, sticking my tongue out.

"Just try it."

I hesitantly used my fangs to crack the shell, surprised by how easily the breached the hard surface. I cracked it open and was careful not to get the red fluid anywhere, before eating the white fruit.

"Whoa!" I said and swallowed the fruit. "It tastes like vanilla!" After explaining to Yoko what vanilla was, I slowly brought the fangfruit's shell to my lips and drank the not-blood-but-looks-a-lot-like-blood. It tasted awesome; like a cherry soda on a hot day.

"Hey, Yoko?" I asked, my worry for my friends back now that I had eaten all I could. A few pieces of Gehenna produce still rested next to me. "I need to go look for my friends. Do you know if they're around here?"

The white fox blinked thoughtfully. "Nope! What kinda demons were they?"

"Actually, I don't know who all may have fallen down here with me. But most of them are human."

"Sorry, I've only seen you. But I bet I know where you can look," she said, looking me up and down. "You'll have to get new clothes before you do, though."

She got up and waited for me to follow her. I put the leftovers of our meal in my pocket before waiting for the demon to turn around. I quickly clasped my hands and muttered "Thanks for the meal!"

I ran after the white fox and followed her to what looked like a small bungalow. The trees here were greener, the dirt muddier, and the vibe creepier with random tools splattered with what didn't look like fangfruit juice lying around. I suppressed a shiver and stopped when Yoko told me to wait outside. She entered her "burrow", as she called it, reappearing five minutes later with a backpack clasped in her jaws. She trotted over to me, dropping the pack at me feet.

"There's some useful stuff in there," she nodded as I opened the backpack. Inside was a few protein bars, some water bottles, a (thankfully) unopened toothbrush and toothpaste, fresh boxers, a bar of soap, and a manga. I looked up at Yoko, who answered my unasked question.

"All this stuff falls down here from Assiah. I got these for you, too," she walked over to me so I could grab the clothing draped over her back. It was a dark gray hoodie and a pair of jeans. I meant to say thanks, but instead what came out was, "Why do you have human clothes in your house?"

"My dad takes human things into markets to sell to big demons. They like it, and it earns him a little more then farming does. Sorry I couldn't find a shirt."

I thanked her and went behind a few trees to change out of my current clothes. I kept my school shirt and pulled on the pair of jeans, making sure to attach the chain with my dorm key and schedule to one of the belt loops. I slipped on the hoodie over my white shirt and swung Kurikara, still in its red case, over my shoulder. I was glad that it had fallen with me as I felt its familiar weight on my back.

Returning to the front of Yoko's bungalow burrow with my school pants and shoes in hand, I saw her scribbling something with a pen in between her jaws. She pushed what she'd been drawing towards me with her muzzle.

I picked up the piece of summoning paper, looking at the strange circle doodled on it.

"That's a calling paper," Yoko said, smiling brightly. "It's different from a summoning paper, since you don't have to chant some 'mumbo-jumbo'. You just say my name, use a prick of blood and poof—just like that!"

"Thanks man," I said playfully, rubbing the white fox's head. She laughed and asked, "Will you promise to call me soon?"

"'Course! You can count on it!" I grinned from ear-to-ear. I waved at her as I began to walk farther into the forest, away from my first friend made in Gehenna.

"Bye, Rin!" Yoko shouted, waving her smoky tail in farewell.

"Later, Yoko!" I called before I had completely left her behind, the forest swallowing up the image of the happy smile on her muzzle.

* * *

"Ugh," I growled angrily, stomping through the Forest of Time. So far I'd passed trees that had gone through Winter blizzards, Easter blooms, Summer green, and Halloween creepiness, which strangely came before Fall's vibrant colors, which I was walking through right now. I swear, I was about to burn my eyes out with every color change.

"Damn, can't this place have some sense of direction?" I sighed, tromping onwards. Deciding to stop for a break before my feet fell off, I all but collapsed at the foot of a large tree with bright red leaves. I pulled out a protein bar and a bottle of water. Taking out the manga Yoko had thoughtfully packed, I began to absently flip through it as I bit into the bar. After I'd gotten a few pages in, I took a swig of water before heaving myself to my feet. Packing everything back up, I began walking again. I had to find my friends before a demon found them. Unless they'd already been found. Or...

_Nope, not thinking of that,_ I scolded myself, ignoring the pain of each step. A few hours later, though, I couldn't help but throw my body to the nearest soft patch of ground. I groaned happily, glad to be off my feet. I had to get some rest up in case a fight or something came up.

I began to drift asleep when I heard something that chilled my blood and nearly gave me a stroke for the second time that day. Only it wasn't a cute, innocent fox this time.

"Hello, little brother," a nonchalant voice said. I slowly sat up and turned around, dreading who was speaking and wishing I was wrong about who it was.

Standing on a tree branch roughly ten meters away from me was Amaimon, king of earth.

* * *

**Dun, dun, DUN! HAHAHAHA, ends right there. *ignores glares from countless people* you all just love cliffhangers, don't ya!**

**I'm kidding, they make we want to pull my tail and hair out.**

**Argh, dialogue! There's so much of it in this chapter!**

**Remember to put it a name for the gobbies from the first chapter! I promise you'll be credited**

**Read and review guys. Any ideas and you just review/PM me!**

**Yours in spirit, soul, and blue flames,**  
**VictoryScythefang**


	5. Chapter 5: Family Below

**What's up? Chapter 5, let's get some brotherly bonding time, bros!**

**Special thanks to Raidon123 for inspiring the juice behind this chapter. BONDING BONDING BONDING! Lol, I hope y'all like it!**

**I was at MatsuriCon over the weekend (8/22-24/2014) to play in the Symphonic Anime Orchestra and you'll never believe who I met. Two Amaimons! I was practically squealing when one gave me a lollipop (Amai-pop!). I've earned the Earth King's respect. Something I found hilarious that one of the guys in the orchestra had cosplayed Yukio, and the Amaimons were popping up and making those finger binoculars at him from the ledge we were standing on. It was really funny when he caught them; he motioned for them to come down and one said "Shall we accept the challenge?" I couldn't stop laughing! Both girls (yes, they were both girls) had an excellent Cosplay, and I'm happy to have met the both of them. One even had a little rolly Behemoth. So kawaii! I also got an awesome Blue Exorcist messenger bag, plus it's signed by Christina Cababos (don't think I spelled that right), the person who played Sheimi. I'm disappointed that the con is over now, but it was definitely way more fun then I thought it would be.**

**So, now that I've said that, on with the story, ne?**

* * *

Chapter 5: Family Below

I felt my pulse quicken as Amaimon leaped down from the tree with ease. I tried to get up, but I hadn't realized how exhausted I really was; I could barely move my legs! Six and a half hours of walking had left me drained and practically defenseless.

_Move, dammit! I'm not gonna die like this!_ I screamed at myself mentally as the king of earth approached. I closed my eyes and tensed up, waiting for the painful blows to come. They never did. Opening one eye cautiously, I wondered what the hell was going on. Usually, the demon king would take advantage of something like this and take a crack at me. I mean, I was exhausted, both mentally and physically, and I was nowhere near strong enough to summon any flames. So why wasn't Amaimon attacking?

I watched as he stood over me it, thinking , _Here it comes!_

Instead, the demon plopped down next to me, rummaging around in his tattered coat. I opened both my eyes, curious to see what he was looking for. He ignored me and pulled out a long red box. He easily ripped the lid off and pulled out a white packed, tearing it open just as much effort. The sudden chocolate smell hit me hard, causing my mouth to water as Amaimon pulled out a Pocky; something I hadn't eaten since the old man died. It used to be his favorite thing to get at the supermarket, and when we were younger, he'd use it to bribe me and Yukio into doing our chores. Hell, he had still used it up until he died.

The king of earth bit the chocolate-covered breadstick in half, chewing thoughtfully. He then shoved the packet in my direction and asked through a mouthful of Pocky, "You want some?"

I nodded and, with some grunting and swearing, pushed myself upwards so my back was against the same tree as Amaimon's, our shoulders so close they were almost touching. I gingerly pulled out one of the sticks and took a bite off of it, watching as the demon next to me laid another stick on the ground. All of a sudden, a yellow and red shape hurtled out of nowhere and gobbled it up.

"Behemoth, you know Rin. Be nice," the demon king said simply, scratching behind Behemoth's horns. The large goblin stared at me for a second before jumping on my lap and giving my face a slobbery, dog-like lick before curling up at me and Amaimon's feet.

"Ew," I groaned, laughing as I did so. "He's almost bad as Kuro. At least he doesn't shed," I said, forgetting for a second who I was talking to.

"Hm, well, Behemoth's lucky I was able to save him from death by the Paladin back at the Vatican. I don't think he'd repay me by shedding, " Amaimon replied, a small smile on his face. I stopped myself from looking stupid and rubbing my eyes in disbelief, surprised at how easygoing he seemed here in Gehenna. It honestly felt weird having a normal conversation with the king of earth, considering how many times we'd came close to killing each other. Both things, combined with exhaustion, seemed so far from reality that it nearly caused my brain to explode.

"Why are you being so nice to me?" I asked suddenly before wishing that I could take it back. It seemed for a second that our peace had broken, when Amaimon actually laughed. Not in some vision inside my head, but right in front of me, knowing that I was there.

"Father's won, so there's no reason to hurt you that badly, little brother. You, big brother, and the other little brother are all down here in Gehenna. Oh, what fun will this be!" He chuckled, spreading his hands wide. "You'll now know what it means to truly be a demon, little brother. And—" he was interrupted when I gave a huge yawn, my eyelids drooping.

"And you look exhausted, little brother," he finished, leaning over to peer at me. I didn't have the energy to tell him to get out of my face, so I was helpless as he poked my cheek. He muttered something and Behemoth was suddenly awake. I was vaguely aware of being picked up and draped over Amaimon's shoulder, of my face nestled into the crook of his shoulder blades, and of Kurikara thumping against my back as I drifted off to sleep.

* * *

I woke up, groggy and feeling as though I'd crashed from a sugar high. Groaning, I tried to get out of the soft bed I was in only to roll off the edge and slam face-first into the floor.

"Ow!" I yelped, my nose throbbing dully. Standing up, I realized that I had fallen asleep in my clothes, my hoodie hanging over a small chair in the corner of the dorm-sized room I was in. I opted to slip it on back on to cover the goosebumps that were beginning to pop up over my arms.

Getting a good chance to look around now that I wasn't preoccupied with freezing my tail off (I'd tucked it under the hoodie to keep it warm), I got a chance to look around the room I was in. It was slightly smaller then my True Cross dorm room, and way less decorated. There was the bed I'd just rolled off in one corner and a small desk in another, completely bare except for the backpack that Yoko had given me. Kurikara was nowhere in sight, which strangely didn't alarm me as much as I thought.

My sock-covered feet made no sound on the wooden floor as I cracked open the door and slipped out. I turned and faced the hallway, suddenly gaping at what I saw.

In some places the walls were normal gray hallway walls, like the ones in my dorm building, but in others live trees made up the hallway, the floor cobblestone. It honestly looked like something out of the My Neighbor Totoro movie that I'd seen with Yukio and the old man when I was younger.

"What the hell?" I whispered, walking until I stood directly underneath the trees, looking up at the green leaves. What looked like sunlight filtered through, lighting up the hallway with a soothing emerald glow. I wrenched my eyes away from the branches and continued down the hallway. It seemed that every few meters another section of tree tunnels would pop up, and I couldn't help but wonder how they looked like this in Gehenna. If I still was in Gehenna. Sadly my gut—and my demonic instincts—told me I was.

I finally reached the end of the hallway, staring at the room it had led me to. It was entirely made of trees, the roof made of leaves. The floor was grass instead of stone here and swayed gently from some invisible breeze. Fresh smells of sunlight and clean air hit me like taking a punch to the nose.

"Hello, little brother. Glad to see you're awake," a voice drawled. I spun around to see Amaimon behind me in the hallway. He was rubbing his eyes sleepily, his green hair a mess; probably from sleeping on it. He was dressed except for his coat with all the holes in it, making me do a double-take since I'd never seen him without it. He looked totally at home and relaxed, which was something that I'd never imagine he'd look like. Ever.

"Uh," I blinked, my morning haze making it hard to make a sentence. "You too?" I tried, watching as the demon passed by me and plopped onto the grassy floor, a half-asleep looking Behemoth trailing behind him.

The king of earth looked at me, as if deciding what he should do. He suddenly patted the ground beside him, making me jump. "Sit," was all he said, waiting for me to do as he asked. I slowly sat next to him and felt Behemoth instantly nuzzle its way under my hand. I looked at it, shocked, before gently scratching it between the horns like I'd seen Amaimon do earlier (or yesterday, whatever) in the forest. It made a grumbling purr as I continued to scratch.

"Sorry to make you wait for breakfast," Amaimon said suddenly, inspecting his claw-like nails. "I'm not as good at making things appear as big brother."

"It's fine," I replied shakily, having trouble sounding relaxed next to a guy that had tried to kill me and my friends multiple times.

"Yes, but he knows you're here, and he's still taking forever in the shower!" The king of earth whined. I blinked at him before asking, "Is Mephisto here?"

Amaimon nodded his head, his spike wobbling slightly. "He beat you here by a few hours."

So that meant I wasn't alone down here! I could almost feel a heavy weight lift off my chest; though, the clown wouldn't have been my first choice to be stuck with.

After a few minutes of silence, I heard something next to me shift. I looked over to see a slightly worried Amaimon biting his long thumbnail. Before I knew what I was doing, I asked "What's wrong?"

"It's just...Mephi hasn't been back here in ages. What will he think of me and our brothers now that he's seen my home for the first time in awhile?" The last part was so quiet that I had to lean towards him to hear what he had said.

"I think he'll think everything's just fine. Maybe the only think he'll say is that everything needs more hearts and girly crap like that," I laughed as I said it. I don't know why I was comforting Amaimon, but it seemed to have worked. He gave a big grin, showing off his fangs.

"Thanks little brother!" He hugged me for a second, making me tense up. He quickly let go, still looking cheered up.

"Greetings, younger brothers!" A joyful voice drew my attention to the hallway where Mephisto stood. He was wearing his Honey-Honey Sisters yukada, exposing his hands with their long, dark purple nails.

"Jeez, man, put on some proper clothing," I muttered, turning away from the demon's scary getup.

"Tut tut, Rin. Is that any way to speak to your older brother?"

I was about to tell him that, yes, it was a fine way to talk to him since I talked to him like this all the time, but the clown had already changed subjects.

"Now, about breakfast," he said clapping his hands together. Three bowls of steamed rice appeared out of nowhere, along with three matching plates filled with breakfast foods and a tamagoyaki each. A set of teacups and a teakettle began filling themselves, hovering midair.

As pissed as I was at the king of time right now, the smell of breakfast was seriously starting to break me. It smelled like meat!

Taking an experimental bite, I found that it was actually pretty decent. Not as good as my cooking, of course, but it was still good. I happily munched away, occasionally giving Behemoth a few pieces of food. I knew Mephisto and Amaimon were watching me, but I ignored them and kept on playing with the large goblin. We were playing a game of "Catch The Fork" with Behemoth losing every time. The both of us had fun, though, which was weird. I'd never really felt like this around another demon (besides Kuro and the recent bit with Yoko), but it felt pretty natural.

After everyone had finished eating, Mephisto clapped once more and his clothes changed to his usual whacked-out outfit. "Alright, younger brothers of mine," I growled at the words, only to get a devilish grin from the clown. "First order of business; finding Instructor Okumura. Second–"

"Yukio's down here?" I asked, almost leaping forward to Mephisto's feet, scaring the crap out of Behemoth.

The king of time sighed, spreading his fingers across his face, a lot like how my twin did it. "So rude, Rin. You really need to learn some proper etiquette."

_Like I care about damn manners,_ I thought, but I let him continue without saying anything.

"As I was saying before you interrupted, we have to find our youngest brother. Secondly, to get the two if you back to father." I paled considerably at the last bit, feeling my whole body go numb. Of course my flames took this perfect opportunity to sprout into horns on top of my head.

"I didn't know you were that excited to see father," Mephisto chuckled darkly as I tried to smother my horns, probably looking like an idiot.

"Like hell I am, you bastard," I snarled, finally able to calm down enough to stop sprouting flames. I pointed a finger at the clown, practically spitting out, "I'm only gonna go along with this to get my brother back and get the hell outta here. Got it?"

"But, you've technically gotten all of your brothers back, little brother," Amaimon said, unwrapping a lollipop and sticking it in his mouth. He'd been so quiet the whole time I'd forgotten he was there.

"Uh..." I sat there, my mouth open, unable to think of a counter quick enough. Breakfast and the warm air in this weird tree room had made me drowsy, so I looked like an idiot as I tried to think of a comeback. Now I'd looked stupid in front of two extremely powerful demon kings a total of two times in the last few minutes. Great, just great.

"Just accept it," Amaimon said, staring at me with his cold blue eyes. Was it me, or did they soften for a second? "We're your family, and we always have been. We always will be. So stop running and embrace it, little brother."

I blinked, unable to respond. I remembered how he'd hugged me earlier, and how Mephisto had been uncharacteristically nice before we'd gotten sucked through the Gehenna gate. I closed my mouth and felt my head sink in submission. I don't know why I did it, and I hated it, but I knew I had to find Yukio as fast as possible. If this was how to get to him, then bring it on.

"Fine," I sighed, clenching and unclenching my fists in my lap. My tail swished unhappily in the grass behind me, free from under the hoodie. "Just help me find my little brother. Please," I heard my voice hitch on the last part, and I could feel my teeth grinding angrily. I seriously hated this.

There was a moment of silence, which was weird since I was expecting some kinda smartass comment from Mephisto. I looked up at him to see the shocked expression on his face, as if he'd thought that I would've said something else. But the look passed, replaced by one of triumph. Normally, I would've snarled back at him and thrown in some choice words, but I was strangely exhausted, as if agreeing with Amaimon had taken a lot out of me.

"Hurray!" Amaimon shouted, leaning back and throwing his arms back. I just gave him a tired semi-glare before turning back towards the clown. He held out a hand and I took it, allowing myself to be pulled up.

"Help me find my brother," I growled, glad that my exhaustion was beginning to fade.

Mephisto tapped a finger to his chin, looking my clothes up and down. "You'll need to get some fresh clothes first," he muttered, before snapping his fingers and saying "Eins, zwei, drei!"

My current clothes disappeared and were replaced with a fresh True Cross uniform. Shoes had appeared on my feet, and a tie neatly tied itself around my collar. A sudden weight on my back caused me to turn my head and see Kurikara hanging from my shoulder, like it had never been missing when I'd awoken.

"We took it so you'd be able to appreciate things instead of destroying them," the clown explained, tugging at the edge of his gloves. I saw Amaimon stand and stretch, putting a lollipop in his mouth. He heard what Mephisto had said and nodded.

I rolled my eyes and grumbled, "How do we find Yukio, then?"

"That's simple, really. Our young brother doesn't like his demonic roots, and doesn't use Satan's power as much as you do. I believe it won't be that hard to find him," the king of time said, striding towards the hallway. Me and Amaimon followed.

"That's were you come in, Rin Okumura. You should be able to find him when we get close."

After a few turns, Mephisto reached a large entry hall, like in those huge medieval castles. He approached the big doors at the end of the hallway and stopped outside them.

"I have one rule, though."

"What?" I snapped, anxious to go find my brother. The demon king made another _tut tut_ noise with his tongue before answering.

"Don't let another demon besides our brothers know that you are the son of Satan." And with that he opened the giant doors, and I got my first good look at Gehenna.

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**There ya go guys! Chapter 5. Not much to say down here; covered most of it at the top. I know Amaimon likes lollipops over Pocky, but I felt like using Pocky. Deal with it! *says while putting on shades* ;D**

**Please Read and Review! Yeah, +3,200 words!**

**Remember, if something doesn't seem IC enough, just message/review, as long as they aren't huge flames of death, please.**

**Yours in spirit, soul, and blue flames,**  
**VictoryScythefang**


	6. Chapter 6: Fireflies

**Update yay! Not much to say here, it's all at the bottom. **

**Thank you so much Raidon123, for making me work. I'm happy I finally updated!**

**Any requests for what's next, just review/message!**

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Chapter Six: Fireflies

"Are we there yet?" I whined for what felt like the bajillionth time, trudging along behind Mephisto and Amaimon. We were passing through a small Earth village that was close to Amaimon's palace (the place with the hella weird tree halls) and I'd been doing what the king of time had told me to do, and kept my powers in check. But even without me spurting blue flames everywhere, two flamboyantly dressed demon kings aren't exactly the most subtle travel buddies. Especially when one's been missing for quite a few years.

"Is that...?"

"I think it is!"

"Who's that with the two Kings?"

The whispers and pointing followed us everywhere, and I felt completely signaled out. Mephisto hadn't given me anything to cover up my face, though he'd told me to tuck my tail in. Demons watched me as I drifted a ways behind the two, keeping my eyes lowered and shirt collar as close to my face as possible. I could feel eyes wandering over me, as if summing up this new stranger somehow connected to two powerful demon kings, one who's been gone for years. I felt my heart rate speed up dramatically the longer we walked, and I nearly sighed in relief by the time we'd made it to the path leading out of the demon village.

"I thought they'd never stop staring at us," I breathed, letting my shoulders slump forward.

"That's what life is like for the us down here in Gehenna. Wanna lollipop?" Amaimon pulled out a blue raspberry lollipop and handed to me. I carefully unwrapped it and shoved it into my mouth, moving it back and forth.

"Yeah, but still. Where are we going anyway?"

"To a friend," was all the king of earth said, sticking his hands in his pockets, Behemoth trotting along happily behind him. I growled at his vague answer, walking in silence until we came to another palace on the edge of what looked like a fiery wasteland.

"Sheesh, what's up with this?" I asked, panting slightly from the heat. "It's so damn hot here!"

"You'd think father's son who posses his flames wouldn't be affected by some heat," Mephisto taunted, causing me to snarl dangerously at him. Oh, he was about to see some flames, alright.

The clown was saved by Amaimon pounding on the palace's door as loudly as he could. It opened and I was practically dragged inside by the king of earth.

I gotta admit, while Amaimon's palace had been pretty cool, this one was way more badass. The walls were made of black obsidian, with veins of red pulsing through them. Huge silver grates blazed with bonfires, a row on each side of the entry hall. It was actually cooler (as in temperature wise) on the inside than I thought, which was a relief.

"Amai-kun! What a pleasure!" A deep voice boomed throughout the room as a figure walked in from a side hall. He had red hair the color of a raging fire that gradually turned orange towards the top of his head. It was tousled and spiky, and he had a little tuft at the top that looked like a small flame. He had pale skin like Amaimon and Mephisto, only with a slight olive tint to it. His golden eyes, above dark bagging eyelids, sparkled mischievously, like the flame-colored fabric on the underside of his long jacket. He had a ruby-colored vest and orange pants dotted with yellow, fire-like designs. His blood red boots reached up to just below his knees, a small golden buckle on each. When he smiled I could see his fangs shining in the firelight.

"And...Mephi? Is that you?" The demon king's grin grew even larger when he saw his brother. "It's been ages. How's Assiah suiting you?"

"Just fine, Iblis. But we've come on different matters," Mephisto replied, looking slightly miffed that Amaimon had been noticed before he had. The clown moved aside, revealing me to his—I mean our (ugh)—brother.

Iblis blinked a few times, his slitted eyes flicking up and down as he rubbed his chin. I noticed that he was beginning to grow a tiny "Mephisto beard", and he looked a lot more like the clown then I'd originally thought.

"So, this is our youngest brother," he said, walking in a circle around me. My tail flicked anxiously.

"Technically, his twin is," the king of time supplied, watching Iblis carefully. "We wondering if you'd seen him in this area."

The king of fire ignored him, still looking at me as he asked, "What's your name?"

"Rin."

Iblis nodded thoughtfully before smiling softly. "Well then, Rin, nice to finally meet you," he said as he gave me a small bow that I returned. I think I was really starting to like this demon king.

"So, dear brother, have you seen or heard about a strong demon in the area?" Mephisto asked, still looking pissed at the lack of attention. Iblis shook his head, going to stand besides the clown. That meant we weren't that much closer to finding my younger brother.

That nearly sent me off. As much as I liked the king of fire, I really needed to find Yukio, and the ginger demon had no clue where he was. Amaimon, as if sensing the coming explosion, said suddenly, "I'll show little brother around the palace, if you don't mind, big brothers." And with that he grabbed my arm and dragged me through the hallway Iblis had walked through minutes before.

"What the hell? What was the point of coming here if he doesn't know where Yukio is?" I hissed angrily, not caring about the sudden demonic voice change. I didn't even notice when my whole body burst into flames. I growled viciously, pacing just to keep myself busy. The king of earth watched curiously, sucking on another sucker.

"I don't get it! Mephisto isn't even trying, is he? Or maybe, he doesn't even want us to find Yukio! Or-or—" I stopped mid-sentence, flexing my claws and whipping my tail back in forth. The anger suddenly left me, and I sunk to the ground, my back against the wall. The flames that surrounded me died down, though some of them stayed. I held my hands up to my face to stare at my claws and the blue fire that danced around them.

"What would Yukio say if he saw my like this? What would my friends say?" I whimpered, drawing my knees into my chest, not even caring that I was still spontaneously combusting.

"They'd say that you looked a demon," Amaimon said plainly, sliding down next to me. I glared at him with my hellfire eyes. "Wow, thanks."

"You're welcome," he dead-panned, flexing his fingers. They suddenly morphed into scaly, hobgoblin-like talons. He held them out to show me.

"What's the human saying? 'It doesn't matter what you look like on the outside; it's the inside that counts'? I know that can only sometimes be true in Gehenna, but I'm positive that you're friends from Assiah wouldn't care how you looked right now. I mean, now you use father's power in front of them all the time. Aren't they used to it?" He blinked at me before continuing through a mouthful of lollipop. "Our brothers don't care what I look like. Deep down we're all related, we're all strong. We all fight, we all call each other weak sometimes, we all plot and deceive each other and stuff, but that's just in our nature. Especially since we are father's sons."

"Despite what exorcists have told you, demons look out for their kin. We watch each other's backs. I see you follow those instincts when you're protecting your friends, your family. Are you saying that us demons are any different?" He stared at me, unblinking. I squirmed slightly under his gaze, my hands fidgeting on my lap.

"No..." I muttered, trailing off. I thought about Mephisto's attitude change a few days ago, Amaimon taking me to his palace, both of them trying to find Yukio. And both had began to call me their little brother (though that was a bit too much to handle). "I guess not."

Amaimon nodded, satisfied by that answer. "We know how you feel, waiting for your brother. We'll find him. After all, he's our family too."

With that, the king of earth stood, holding out his now back-to-normal hand. I took it and he pulled me up to my feet, still slightly combusting.

"Come, big brother told me you're really good at something," he said, walking down the hallway. I followed.

"What'd he say?" I asked curiously, absentmindedly playing with the flames in my hand. When I realized what I was doing I stopped. It was really scaring me how natural it was beginning to feel being in Gehenna. I concentrated and my flames and demonic appearance disappeared. I turned back towards the king of earth, wondering what Mephisto had said about me.

"You'll see," he replied giddily before leading me into a big room, immediately making me stop worrying about being in the land of demons.

The room was a giant kitchen!

"Wow!" I breathed, my tail flipping with excitement. Stoves, ovens, grills, woks, pots, pans, spoons, ladles, there was everything! Sheimi can have her plants, but I'll take a kitchen over some old flowers any day! "So cool!"

"Whatcha gonna make?" My older brother asked, jumping onto a stool. With some grunting, Behemoth pulled itself up onto the counter in front of Amaimon so he could scratch behind its horns. I had totally forgotten about the large goblin, but I felt myself smile as I watched it. Something about Behemoth just seemed to cheer you right up.

"Hm..." I hummed, my tail swishing back and forth as I wondered what to cook. All of a sudden, a lightbulb went of in my head.

"How about sukiyaki?" I suggested before nearly slipping off into a daydream about it. Sukiyaki...Mmm...

"Little brother?" The king of earth shook his hand in front of my face, snapping me out of my food-induced trance. "Wha?"

Amaimon cocked his head at me and I copied the action. As much as I hated to admit it, it was getting a little bit easier to understand my...older brothers. Unfortunately, that must've meant that I was becoming more of a demon. Great.

As I began cooking my favorite dish, I felt eyes bore into the back of my head. I tried to ignore it until I heard a familiar squeaking noise. I whipped around to see a purple and tan stove spirit grinning up at me.

"Ukobach!" The cooking demon leapt onto my shoulder, giving me a little salute as he did so.

"Oh, so you are big brother's stove spirit familiar," Amaimon said, gazing at the demon on my shoulder. The two continued to stare at each other for an awkward amount of time, neither moving a muscle.

"Nice to meet you," the demon king said finally. Ukobach squeaked back at him while nodding his head.

"So..." I asked my demonic friend, keeping my eyes on Amaimon. "Why're you here?"

"Stove spirits are fire demons, therefore they belong to my realm. I believe Mephi's familiar here just stopped by to pay us a visit," Iblis' voice explained. I turned to see him leaning against the huge kitchen doors. His arms were crossed and he was smiling slightly. I blinked and then the image was gone.

"You damned exorcists!" Someone screeched. It was Iblis, only now he had red horns that jutted from his head, each one covered in orange flames. His arms were the same ruby color as his horns, now covered in scales, with sharp, coal black claws instead of fingers. I could see a matching tail–a lot like Amaimon's– curled slightly in anger. I was able to see a flash of green behind him before a goblin blocked it. Wait, what?

I rubbed my eyes and turned to see dark figures moving forward. Some had guns, one or two had kireks, and I saw an occasionally flashing of Aria beads. I couldn't make out faces, but I felt a sudden spike of fear in my chest. My feet shuffled backwards and my eyes narrowed. The beginning of a growl began in my throat. Was this how demons felt before they were exorcised?

"Little brother?" I snapped out of it to see the two demon kings looking at me strangely. My eyes flicked to Amaimon's hair, and I realized that it was the same shade of green that had been behind Iblis in the vision.

"I'm fine," I said shakily and totally unconvincingly. I began to gather what I needed to make the sukiyaki, Ukobach helping. I had to ask Iblis where he kept his food and stuff, but by the time I'd started heating up the sukiyaki wok, the tension had disappeared and the four of us (stove spirit included) began to have a conversation. Wherever Mephisto had gone off to, he'd came back, probably due to the loud laughter and (immature) joking. Instead of scolding us, he joined in the conversation. Unfortunately, he didn't join in when we made jokes, but it was fun all the same.

_"I know you think of them as monsters, but if you met them I believe that you would like them."_

"What d'you know, clown, you might've been right," I muttered to myself.

"What was that, little brother?" Amaimon called from his stool, gripping his chopsticks like they were a knife as he duked it out in a chopstick war with Behemoth and Ukobach.

"Nothing," I said back, holding my finished masterpiece by the handles. A group of fire demons had gathered around the kitchen counter. Mephisto's hat and cape were slung over a coatrack he'd summoned, along with a napkin to cover his expensive scarf. Amaimon had chucked his tattered jacket on the rack too, and Iblis had slung his over his younger brother's.

I set the sukiyaki down on the counter, grabbing fifteen or so small bowls. I set six on the table and the rest on the floor. My older brothers watched me curiously as I used my set of chopsticks to push in a portion of sukiyaki into their bowls first, then into the others on the black tiled floor. I cracked one egg in each bowl before backing away to sit on a stool between Amaimon and Iblis.

The group of demons that had came to watch just stared at me. "Well?" I asked. Iblis used chopsticks to get a bite and put it in his fanged mouth.

"Whoa!" His reaction was identical to Bon's on the night of the camping trip. "Mephi's right; you are a good cook!"

With that, demons began to eat from the bowls I'd lain down for them. Some used their mouths, others used their hands to pick up the bowls, and others had somehow–cough, cough Mephisto–gotten chopsticks. I couldn't help but grin at all the happy faces, momentarily forgetting the whole issue I was in. My tail flicked gleefully as I began to talk with Iblis about cram school and what it was about. He seemed generally interested, and was surprised at all the similarities between human exorcist schools and things taught to demons.

"Oh, Rin, I forgot to tell you," the clown said, putting a strip of meat in his mouth.

"Hm?" I questioned, perking up.

"I found someone that fell down here with us."

"What?" I nearly fell off the stool before angrily asking "Then why didn't you say so before?"

"I forgot," he said innocently with a not-so-innocent smirk.

"Who is it?" I changed the subject, curiosity over-ruling full-out rage mode.

"Rin!" I childish voice cried in my head, and for the second time in seventy-two hours I was assaulted by a ball of black fur.

"Kuro!" I hugged him close to my chest after peeling him off my face. Again. "How...?"

"I landed near Sir Pheles after we fell. I've kinda been recovering," the cat sídhe said sheepishly.

"He's been in a time pocket for the last few days," the king of time explained, taking another bite.

"And why didn't you mention anything?" I asked, giving him the brotherly "what-the-hell-happened-and-you-have-two-seconds-to-explain" look that Yukio gave me a lot. He held up his hands in surrender, trying to act innocent again. It was something I knew well; after all, the look one of my younger brother's signature weapons. It was surprising–and slightly creepy-how much Mephisto looked like me for a second. Blech, brotherly looking-like-each other thing.

Giving the clown one last glare, I made a bowl for Kuro, warning him to blown on his food since cat tongues are sensitive to heat. And he didn't listen. I laughed and he got mad and ratted me out to Mephisto. It didn't do much, though.

The rest of the night was really fun. Who knew that all demon kings loved video games? I felt like I should've known, but it was still awesome to participate in a Mortal Kombat tournament with the three of them; and let's just say that I didn't inherit the family skills. We also had a raging bonfire–courtesy of the king of fire–and Amaimon had been able to find s'more materials somehow. I didn't question his methods, and neither did our two older brothers.

I leaned back against the little collapsible chairs Mephisto had summoned, blinking sleepily from o food coma. A red scaled, dragon-like demon the size of a dog was curled up on my left side, its horned head under my hand. Kuro's was curled up on my chest and a goblin was nestled under my other arm.

I yawned, snuggling slightly with the other demons before realizing what I was doing. I was too sleepy to react, and I fell asleep watching dozens of small blue fireflies dance around in the Gehenna sky, wishing that Yukio was here to experience all of this with me.

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**Serw, what did you guys think? "It took you too long to update yadayadayada" goes the voice in my head, though it's right. Sorry it took so long. I've been working on a Coal Tar hat and Kuro hoodie.**

**Thank you so much to Raidon123 for being such an awesome friend. I hope you get new Beats, my friend**

**Any ideas, please review/message/that stuff.**

**Yours in spirit, soul, and flames,**  
**VictoryScythefang**


	7. Chapter 7: Before Rain Washes Them Away

**Chapter 7! We've made it this far!**

**Jeez, dudes, I dunno what to say. All these reviews, thank you so much! So many of you want me to update and sturff...ARIGATO! *bows crazily as tail flips***

**Sorry for the seriously long wait. On the bright side, I only have to make the tails for the Kuro hoodie and it's done! Woo!**

**Might be thinking of doing a fanfiction for AOT/SNK (whatever you prefer-dubs all the way for me!), what do you guys think? Yay or nay? Cause I think I've got a pretty decent idea for one.**

**Gandalfstyle (I laughed really hard for like five minutes when I read your name. It's awesome) and Raidon123 and anyone else who might've requested it, eventual Satan/Rin bonding time is near the top of my list of to-do's for the story. We've got clearance on the go! Got any ideas for that, just review or message.**

**I think that's it on the ridiculously-long-author's-note, so, on with the chapter!**

**Important note: story recommendation for Cut Glass' fanfic, I Had The STRANGEST Dream.**

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Chapter Seven: Before Rain Washes Them Away

"Rin...Rin...Rin!"

"Huh? Wha? Sukiyaki!" I jolted up in bed, Kuro standing on my chest, staring at me with wide green eyes.

"Ugh, god, Kuro, school doesn't start for another hour. Lemme sleep." I turned over, stuffing my face into my pillow. I felt my tail slip out from underneath the blankets and the sudden chill, but I was practically glued to the mattress and couldn't do anything about it.

"But Rin, we aren't at school," Kuro complained, pawing at the back of my head.

"We aren't?" I asked before I suddenly remembered everything that had happened. "Gah, we aren't!"

The cat sídhe yelped as I threw him off of the bed in a frantic rush to get untangled from the sheets.

"Arg!" I landed face-first on the floor. "Dammit!"

By the time I'd gotten my bearings, my head had cleared enough for me to remember that I hadn't fallen asleep on a bed. I'd passed out in a chair-thing that the clown had summoned. Looking around, I noticed I was in a decent room. The bed I'd just rolled off of was extremely soft, way softer than any one I'd ever been in before, and was covered in flame colored sheets (no surprise there). There was a small black dresser off to the side of the room and there was a glass of water sitting on a nightstand next to the bed. The floor was made of smooth mahogany floorboards, surprisingly cool beneath my bare feet. I blinked and looked down. Bare feet?

I gave a small shriek when I saw that I was in my purple nightshirt and a pair of black sweatpants instead of my True Cross uniform. As I wondered how I'd gotten changed, I felt embarrassment and anger boiling up inside me. Only one thought swirled in my head.

Mephisto was so dead.

I stomped to the door, and ferociously yanked at the handle. It didn't budge.

"I think we're locked in, Rin," Kuro muttered in my mind, his ear twitching in agitation. I growled in response, ramming my shoulder against the door,

"I think big brother would be mad if you broke his nice door," a voice warned. I whipped my head back and forth, trying to find the owner of the voice.

"Down here."

I looked down to see a small green hamster sitting right in front of my foot.

"Good morning, little brother," Amaimon said, his tone cheerful. I felt my tail flick in annoyance.

"How'd you get in?" If hamsters could look smug, the king of earth certainly did.

"Big brother's spell allowed me entrance. He didn't want you rampaging around other big brother's palace." All of a sudden, there was a poof and a change in air pressure, causing me to clap my hands to my sensitive ears and scrunch my eyes shut in pain. It was over as quickly as it came. I blinked to see Amaimon standing in front of me, no longer as a hamster. He cracked a fanged grin at the look of shock on my face.

"I'm sure when you become fully demon you'll be able to change shape as well," he said casually, his smile only growing larger as I glared him down.

"I'm not—!" I remembered what I'd agreed to back at Amaimon's palace. That I'd live with (and try to accept, I guess) the whole "You're truly a son of Satan now" crap. I sighed angrily, my cheeks flushing. "Whatever. Just let me out."

"'Just let me out'...what?" He taunted joyfully, cupping a hand around his ear.

"Please?"

"Try again, little brother," he faked a pout, leaning back on his heels. With a shock of horror, I realized what he was asking me to do. Mephisto had been one thing, and that had still been incredibly weird, but there was no way I was calling him that.

Amaimon wiggled his short eyebrows, his shoulder pressing against the door. It was clear he wouldn't let me out until I said it. I growled, muttering "Please let me out...big brother."

"What was that? I couldn't hear you." _Son of a—_

"Please let me out, big brother," I raised my voice, my tail flicking angrily. The king of earth smiled heartily. "Of course, little brother!"

He reached out and ruffled my hair, almost exactly like Mephisto had done the morning before we fell down here. That felt like ages ago. I flinched away from him.

"Yeah, sure," I grumbled, my eyes staring down at the floor. The demon king grinned victoriously, reaching behind him to turn the doorknob. "After you."

With my shoulders slumped in defeat and my hands stuffed in my pockets, I exited the room. Kuro hopped down from the bed and pattered behind me, followed closely by Amaimon. He didn't direct us to a certain room or anything; he allowed us to wander and look around.

We eventually reached a huge library, books and scrolls stuffed into hundreds of shelves. Hell, there was even a section devoted to manga! Before I had time to read a new subscription of Jump Square, though, Amaimon poked my shoulder.

"What?" I asked, exasperated.

"Big brother wanted to see you."

I sighed, allowing myself to be dragged out of the library, casting one last longing glance at all the manga before the king of earth pulled me out of sight.

I've officially appointed family meetings to the new title of "absolute hell". Yeah, we'd had them back at the monastery, usually to talk about your's truly, but having one with four of the sons of Satan after half of them just woke up was pure insanity.

"Damn you, Mephisto, and your habit of getting up early," Iblis grumbled, his mouth opening in a huge, fangy yawn. He was wearing a red yukada with little orange flames on it, but thankfully it wasn't as revealing as the clown's. I didn't know if any of the other demon kings had issues waking up (if I remembered what Mephisto had told me once, it took, like, four shots of extremely sugary espresso to wake Amaimon), though I was beginning to believe it was a family trait that the king of time never inherited.

"Let's go! Chop chop, time's a'wasting!" The clown exclaimed in a giddy voice. He was the only one who looked truly awake; Amaimon was almost there with me and Iblis behind, still at the slumped back, baggy and droopy eyelid, and aggressive yawning stage.

"Hey, looks like someone has some sense!" Iblis said, mid yawn, as he slapped me on the back. He narrowed his golden eyes at Mephisto. "Couldn't you have waited another hour or so?"

The clown chuckled, beckoning to the chairs behind him at a long dining table. I plopped into one, pillowing my head with my arms. "G'night..." I muttered dreamily, beginning to fall asleep. Almost instantly, I was jabbed between the shoulder blades.

"Ow! What the hell was that for?" I tried to shout at my attacker, except that it came out muffled due to my face being in my arms. I raised my head and turned to glare at who I thought would be Amaimon, but instead it was Mephisto with his damned umbrella from hell.

"Please try to stay awake, Rin Okumura. I'd hate for you to miss something important," he said with a smirk.

"T'ch, yeah right," I snorted, but made an effort to stay awake this time. Who knows, maybe we'll come up with a plan to find Yukio. I'll take a nap afterwards, just on the off chance that we could actually make progress finding my brother.

The others took their seats and we began the routine of absolute hell.

* * *

He couldn't see.

"Rin? Rin?" He called out to no one.

"Big brother?" It was hopeless and he knew it.

"Anybody?"

A low growl sounded off to his right. He swung his head towards the noise, feeling over-sized ears follow the movement. His dark brown-almost black-tail flicked in an agitated manner.

"Who's there?" His voice trembled as he reached for his guns. They weren't there. Instead, he felt his hands curl onto each other in empty air, newfound claws digging into his skin. His shoulders were slouched and his head buzzed, but he tried not to let the exhaustion faze him.

"I asked, who's there?" He snarled, a demonic note ringing to it. He twinged as his true nature began to take over. He wouldn't become a monster. He wouldn't.

Something rustled, then dashed behind him. He staggered, trying to find where the creature was. All of a sudden, blinding pain raced up his back. His tail had been pulled.

"What the—? Why can't I see you?"

He noticed a buzzing in his long ears, as if an explosion had gone off. His tail swished nervously as another pain hit him in the knees and he collapsed onto all fours. Tears welled up in his eyes, but he refused to allow them to fall.

He attempted to stand, but the pain was too great. He groaned miserably and tried to crawl, only to end up falling face-first onto the ground. He whimpered slightly before letting the moisture in his eyes well up and roll down his cheeks. It had been awhile since he'd last cried, and certainly much longer since he'd last felt so helpless.

Curling up the best he could, he felt his tail swing around to rest by his head. He could barely stay conscious now. Just let something come and end the pain.

After what felt like a small eternity, he felt a presence approach. He stilled as a strangely familiar, warm feeling enveloped him. Slowly, blue flames began to flicker around his curled form, and his sight became clearer, albeit fuzzy, as though he didn't have his glasses on. His hearing began to return as he was hoisted off of the ground and carried somewhere. Before he could identify who the stranger was or where he was going, he drifted of into unconsciousness.

* * *

"I'm awake!" I yelped. I'd had the strangest dream; something about Yukio. Before I could grasp any details, the memory slipped out of reach. I nearly slammed the table with frustration.

Mephisto sighed angrily, pressing his fingers to his temples. "The meeting is over, Rin. You slept through half of it."

"Can you blame me? Jeez, I'm not exactly a morning person!" I snapped, my tail flicking furiously. The clown gave up on me and turned to Iblis, who, coincidently (did I say that right? Yukio uses the word a lot, so why not me?) was also asleep. "Iblis!"

"Huh?" The king of fire jolted awake, blinking rapidly. "Who's'er?"

Mephisto looked like he was going to blow a fuse. "Meeting adjourned," he growled through his teeth. I was about to hop down from my seat when Iblis held out a hand to stop me.

"You made us a delicious meal yesterday. Why don't I repay the favor?" He snapped his fingers and plates of food appeared. They smelled _way_ better than the clown's, and I took heaping piles of everything. Amaimon did the same, while our two older brothers settled for cups of tea. I could dimly hear classical music in the background, something I wouldn't have expected to be in a place like this. As we ate the food—which, by the way, was ten times better than Mephisto's—in silence, I tried to remember my dream. As hard as I tried, I kept drawing a blank. Sighing in frustration, I poured a saucer of milk for Kuro and set it next to my plate. The sleepy cat sídhe shifted in my lap and put his front paws on the table to hoist himself up onto it. He sat on the beautiful wood and began to drink from the saucer.

"Hey, uh, big brother Iblis?" I asked, flinching inwardly when I said it. I hadn't meant to, but it had slipped out anyways.

"Yes?"

"How is there so much wood here if it's supposed to be a fiery palace? And how's it so much cooler then it looks?"

"Ah, you're full of questions," the king of fire smiled softly as he took a sip from his teacup before setting it on the table. "The wood has special enchantments on it to keep it from burning. As for the temperature, it's cooler when I have non-fiery guests. Usually it is much warmer."

I nodded, leaning back in my chair. Now that I'd finished eating, I felt much more alert.

A few hours later, I was dressed and back up in my room playing with Kuro. Mephisto had told me to pack up my backpack and be prepared to leave when he called me.

I looked up when I heard the door open. Amaimon slipped through it and fell backwards onto my bed. "Big brother wants me to take you to big brother Egyn."

"Isn't he the king of water?" I asked, dimly remembering the name mentioned in Grimoire Literature back at the cram school.

"Yup, " the demon king beside me nodded, before pushing himself onto his elbows. "Only big brother wont be coming with us."

"Oh." Not having the clown there with me so I had someone familiar was a little scary, but I didn't let it show. I grabbed the backpack and followed Amaimon to the palace doors. Mephisto and Iblis were there to see us off.

"We'll see you two later at father's palace!" The king of fire grinned, slapping Amaimon on the back.

"Wait, what?" I felt every muscle go numb.

"I already told you, Rin, we find instructor Okumura, then you'll go see father," Mephisto told me, clapping a hand on my shoulder. "Just accept it, remember?"

I swallowed all the comments that Father Fujimoto would wash my mouth out with soap if he'd heard them and nodded, Kuro hopping up onto my shoulder next to where Kurikara was slung. "Let's go, Rin!"

I watched as my two older brothers waved at us as me and the king of earth left them behind, moving towards the demonic sea and home of the king of water.

* * *

**All at the top. Remember: Cut Glass, I Had The STRANGEST Dream. Gave me the idea to put hamster Amai in this chapter.**

**Blech, not as good as usual. I'll give you more next time, dudes.**

**Please read and review, love you all! Thank you so much for all the support!**

**Yours in spirit, soul, and blue flames,**  
**VictoryScythefang**


	8. Chapter 8: The Spirit and The Sea

**Hey y'all! Whew this took FOREVER! Not much to say, most of it is at the bottom. I hope this is good for you, Raidon123 and xXxDisillusionsxXx, thank you so much for moving me along!**

**Wow, over 5,400 words! New record! Hope, this makes up for the long wait!**

* * *

Chapter 8: The Spirit and The Sea

I sighed, staring up at the night sky. Even though we were in Gehenna, the blinking lights of stars still flashed among purple clouds, a large red moon suspended in the night sky.

My head was resting in my hands, my back on the thin bedroll Amaimon had summoned out of thin air. I closed my eyes, feeling a sharp pang of loss when Kuro didn't respond through our telepathic link. I'd sent the cat sídhe back to Asssiah, so he could help whoever he could, and to protect any of our friends that hadn't fallen through. He'd been upset to leave me, and I felt the same way, but in the end he'd agreed and traveled back to True Cross.

I was uneasy being alone with the king of earth, though he hadn't seemed unfriendly towards me at all since we left Mephisto and Iblis. I glanced over at the green-haired demon, who was also awake. Behemoth was snuggled against his shoulder, snoring noisily.

"How are you holding up, little brother?"

"Huh?" I sat up to look at Amaimon.

"Your powers. I can sense how strong they are, but you seem to be holding back," he explained, his blue eyes locked on the sky above us. I had an intense moment of déjà vu as he talked. He sounded like Mephisto back on the beach a few days ago.

"Not only that. Your flames are telling me something," he turned to stare directly at me. I couldn't say anything because it felt like my body just got way heavier than it should be, like I was rooted in place, and my brain semed to focus in on the Demon King, blocking out everything around him. Something I had never noticed inside me began swirling eagerly, but I couldn't tell what it was or why.

I was torn between panic and curiosity. It was like one of those old cartoons with the angel on one shoulder and the demon on the other, only instead of an angel I had my human side. It was telling me that something felt wrong here, but it was hard to listen to over my demon side screaming "I want to here what he says!"

"They're telling me that despite everything you believe, despite how hard you try to fit in with your human friends, that your demon half is just itching to meet father and the rest of our brothers. You want our little brother here so you both can finally fit in. You want this, even though your telling yourself otherwise. You've felt it, haven't you," his eyes flashed and I realized that my flames had chosen this moment to show themselves. That something I'd felt earlier was a sudden hunger, a desire, for what Amaimon was saying. "You've felt a pull every time the Gehenna Gate opens and when father came through to Assiah. Your human conscience has demanded you stick with it and ignore the call, but when you got to know big brother and I more, you began to want that sense of security. You had a family back at that monastery, but you want one tied to your blood. Isn't that right?"

"Shut up!" I snarled, finding my voice. I blocked out the demon side and went with the human, just like Amaimon said I did. I didn't care, I knew he was wrong. "You don't know what you're talking about!"

"I do." Amaimon cocked his head to the side. "But I don't think you know what you're talking about."

"I–" A sudden, empty feeling hit me hard in the gut. I sat there with my mouth open, the emotion clawing at my insides viciously as hopelessness washed over me. I was a demon. I'd known it my whole life and hell, somehow I'd known before my demonic nature returned. Even after the old man died and all the shit that has happened at True Cross, I'd been trying to deny it. That something inside me, it wanted to be with its own kind. It begged for it, but I was so used to ignoring it that I'd never acknowledged what was going on. Now that Amaimon had gave it recognition, it was screaming for its own say. My demon heart wanted to be allowed in. It had been isolated in Kurikara for sixteen years, and after the sword had been unsheathed, I'd forced it to stay in there. Slowly, it had sapped out into my being, which was why I could control my flames freely. Now it wanted to merge fully with my human heart, maybe even destroy it.

I didn't realize I was crying until I felt warm streaks begin to run down my face. I turned away from him in shame, my arms wrapped around my body as if they could keep me pieced together, my claws were digging into my skin. My knees were up to my chest and my tail was curled so tight it was like it might snap in two. Blue flames surged outwards, though they were less violent and more like they were happy to be free.

I felt a hand on my back and then Amaimon was sitting next to me, comfortingly rubbing my spinal cord. A memory of when I was younger and the old man would rub my back to get me to sleep when I was upset flashed in my mind and the flames began to shrink. Our eyes were locked as the Demon King calmingly tracing patterns on my back and slid his hand along my arced spine. Slowly, my flames completely disappeared, none of them left except for the two horn-like ones on my head.

"Better?" He asked, still rubbing. I didn't have the energy to snap at him to keep his hands off of me and how creepy this was. In truth, it kinda felt nice.

"Turn around," he ordered, though not harshly. After a second, I did, and felt his cool hands curl around the tuft of my tail. A spark of panic shot through me, but then I heard the tell-tale (pun fully intended...I think) pop of something being summoned. Something was then being combed through my tail, and almost instantly I began to relax, my shoulders slumping and muscles un-tensing. I wasn't even embarrassed when something like a purr rise up in my throat.

"That feels nice..." I breathed airily, letting my tail go limp. I heard a chuckle come from the king of earth as he continued brushing.

"I imagine big brother has said things about demonic manners, yes?" I nodded sleepily, barely able to hear him. "Keeping your horns and tail healthy and clean is a big part of it," he said, now using his thumbs to massage the rest of my tail. Any and all anger or stress that I'd had earlier was completely gone.

"Funny, Mephisto never mentioned that..." Amaimon had finished, and I was able to stretch. I felt like I'd had a good night's sleep and several cups of chocolate flavored tea, one of the few things Mephisto was good at whipping up.

The earth king made a move to get up when I suddenly reached out and grabbed his arm. "Wait!" I didn't know why the hell I was doing it, but I was certain as I said "Let me do you. It's the least I can do."

Yep, now I'd gone off the edge into demonic insanity. I'd probably get the "What the hell is wrong with you?" lecture from someone, like Bon or Yukio, though I didn't really care. I honestly wanted to pay the demon king back.

Amaimon blinked, and we sat in almost complete silence for three whole seconds, the only noise being Behemoth's loud snores and the chirping of Chuchi. Then, slowly, he turned around and sat with his back to me. "Alright, little brother, go ahead. Do you know how?"

"Uh," I hadn't thought of that, and I looked at his blue eye peering at me. "Not really..."

Amaimon nodded in understanding, fiddling with the shirt under his vest. He'd used his coat as a pillow, so his the skin on his arms was actually showing for once. I watched as a dark green tail, almost identical to mine, unwind itself from around his stomach. For one second, I stupidly thought, "My God, we're twinning!" I think I might have been spending a little too much time around Shima and the girls.

The furry tip swung into place behind him as I eased myself into sitting cross-legged on my bedroll. He passed me back the brush he'd been using, and I wrapped my hand around the handle. I didn't know how to start, but trusted some sort of instinct and began near the base of the tuft.

Once I'd finished, I gave Amaimon back his brush. "Promise me you won't ;ever; tell this to Mephisto. I wouldn't be able to handle the Barbie jokes." I sighed, rubbing my eyelids. They'd grown heavy by now, and I felt like I could curl up and pass out right then and there.

The king of earth's expression turned serious. "In all my life of seeing terrifying nightmares from both demons and humans, never have I seen anything more horrifying then those damned dolls." He shuddered.

"Agreed," I said, playing with a loose string on my pants. We shared a moment of mutual brotherly understanding over the freaky figurines before I yawned, probably big enough so that Amaimon could've seen my molars.

"Well, I'm gonna crash. Thanks for, uh, that," I said awkwardly. How do you thank your demonic brother who's, like, a bajillion years older than you, for brushing your hair?

Amaimon nodded and crawled over to his bedroll, slipping inside it almost silently. Behemoth shifted, but didn't wake up. "Goodnight, little brother."

"Yeah...goodnight, big bro." Totally weird saying it, just like with Mephisto. It somehow felt right, though.

I closed my eyes and breathed a big sigh, feeling myself drift off to sleep to the crackle of my flaming horns and the approving chirps of Chuchi.

* * *

"Alright! We made it!" I yelled, pumping my fists into the air. Amaimon gave me a snort, shaking his head.

"Aw, c'mon, don't give me that crap! You must be feeling pretty good about getting here," I hung on his shoulder, allowing my voice to gain the slightest edge of a demonic cackle. I saw the demon king's light blue eyes flit over to my face, so I raised my eyebrows challengingly.

Ever since I'd woken up in the morning, I had felt amazing. Whatever happened last night had completely dissolved the ball of tension that had been in my gut, and it was like I'd gotten a month's worth of good night sleep.

The demon king chuckled, boxing lightly me on the shoulder. "Yes, little brother."

I grinned as we made our way to Egyn's palace. It was on the edge of Gehenna's ocean, which was where all the water demons lived. The palace itself sat on a sandy strip of land called a...peninsula, right? I think that's the word.

The walls were made of blue tinged rock, which seemed to glow in the light of Gehenna's small sun. From where we were walking, that was all I could make out, but the way flowers cropped up wherever they could, dancing in the slight breeze, made me think of how much Shiemi would've loved to see this.

We reached the doors, and Amaimon gave me a wink, knocking on them as stupidly as possible. I laughed, and was surprised on how easily it came to me. It was a little scary that I was beginning to fit in more with my demon brothers, but I think...I think it's what my mom would've wanted, if Yukio had explained her right. I was a little jealous that he'd been able to see what she had been like, to tell the truth.

The doors swung open and we walked inside. The first thing that hit me was the smell: a mix of lotus blooms and salt water. The scent was way different then Amaimon's palace, which had smelled a lot like sunny hillsides and fresh earth, and Iblis's palace, which was basically like bonfire nights. Hell, there had been even a little of that smoke-in-your-eyes feel, too.

The floor was like walking underwater, as light from coral, shell, and bone lamps made flickering patterns dance across it. I turned my head to look around some more and yelped. A whole section of the wall was made out of ocean! Seriously, the wall was all water, with no windows or anything keeping tons of sea water from crashing down on our heads. Demonic piranha-looking fish darted in and out of a kraken's tentacles. Nymphs and other water demons floated and swam around, and some even waved at me and Amaimon as we passed by. I didn't know how it was possible to put a section of the sea on your wall, but Egyn, being the king of water, had managed it nicely.

The palace made me think of the town we had traveled by on the way here. While everything had been civilized and all, skeletons had decorated the streets and human blood had been on sale. I'd even passed a shop that had displayed damned souls. The palace showed that even though we were in Hell, that it wasn't as bad as many thought. Yes, evidence of dead humans were everywhere, but I kinda figured I was going to see some anyway. It seemed that smaller towns and villages didn't encounter people much, so that was why they weren't as hellish as the larger populations. I guess.

"Big brother Egyn, are you home?" Amaimon called out.

"I'll be with you in just a second," a voice replied. It sounded calm and relaxed, like morning waves on a beach shore, and not at all filled with the trademark demon king ruthlessness and cunning. Or at least, that was my impression of how their voices sounded. God, did I sound like that?

A figure stepped next to the coral throne. From what Amaimon and Iblis had told me two nights ago, I'd figured that Egyn would be like one of those old-school traditional types, like Shiemi had been, in full-on kimono and everything. The king of water was somewhat like that.

Egyn looked different from my vision on the beach days ago. His hair was still long and a deep blue, the tips lighter, like bright sea water. It was decently long, though not like Izumo's, and fell straight down his back to a bit below his shoulder blades. He didn't have an extremely strange hairdo, like his brothers, though a tiny curl stuck up from his head. He had a blue kimono on, but you could easily see "London Olympics 2012" printed in bold hiragana on the white t-shirt underneath, as well as a pair of worn and faded jeans. His hands were uncovered, so you could see his long, dark blue claw-like nails. His eyes were a cross between the color of the sky and sea, with his slitted pupils standing out. His expression was curious and not hostile or anything, which was a plus, and one fang peeked out under his lip. His face was pale, his ears slightly more pointy than mine, and he looked about Mephisto's height, minus the stupidly tall swirl that was on the king of time's head. All in all, he totally looked like a demon king.

"Greetings, brothers," he said, bowing to us both. Amaimon returned the gesture, and I quickly did the same. Luckily, they didn't see how much of an idiot I looked like.

"Come, let us talk in my chambers." Egyn smiled, and it looked pretty sincere. I couldn't help but trust him as we followed the king of water down the halls, past rows of doors. We came to a large set of them and Egyn pulled open the handles.

The room was like an ocean resort version of Mephisto's office. Books were shoved into shelves that stood on one wall, and an aqua-colored rug took up most of the floor. A mini-fridge was next to Egyn's desk, which was cluttered with paper and pens. A large floor-to-ceiling window with sea green curtains looked out over Egyn's kingdom, and a huge tank of demonic koi was over next to a flat-screen tv on my left.

I heard a keyboard typing and looked down to see that we weren't alone. Someone was sitting cross-legged on the floor, a dark gray tail swishing back and forth as the demon stared at a computer screen. I went to ask Egyn who this guy was when I saw that the demon king's face had turned angry.

"Azael, would you kindly go put some pants on? We have guests," he said, sounding exactly like Mephisto when he was trying not to lose it, especially whenever I got in trouble with him.

"I am wearing pants, brother. They're called shorts," Azael groaned, leaning back on one hand and hovering his other over the mouse pad, not taking his eyes of the screen.

"The same 'shorts' you lie down to bed in every night?" Azael said nothing as Egyn sighed, his hand cupping his face and his fingers massaging his forehead above his eyes. "Just put on some jeans or something. Please."

"Fiiiine." He tore himself away from the computer and stood. I was surprised when I got a good look. He didn't look anything like any other demon king I'd met.

First off, Azael was only a bit taller than I was, which meant that he was the shortest demon king I'd seen. He was skinny, even paler than Mephisto, and slightly ruffled looking. He wore a wrinkled, long sleeved, light gray shirt and black shorts that went down to about his knees. He had long sliver hair that almost completely covered his left eye, and went down a little past his shoulders. His eyes were silvery-gray, though they looked kinda transparent, so his slitted pupils really stood out. His fingers had gray claw-like nails, like all of my other brothers—it's scary that I'm starting to get used to calling them that—and I had no idea how he could type with them. He didn't have any socks or shoes on, so you could see his sharp toenails that were the same color as his fingernails.

Azael blinked at me, then pointed and asked, "Who're you?"

Egyn clapped his hand on my shoulder and I instantly felt a bit uncomfortable. "This is our youngest brother, Rin Okumura. Say hello to Azael, king of spirits."

"Hey," I said lamely, giving Azael a small wave. The demon king nodded and gave me a small bow, though he kept staring at me. The uncomfortable feeling got stronger.

"Good, now that we got introductions out of the way, Azael can go put his pants on," Egyn said cheerfully. The king of spirits groaned, picked up his laptop and trudged out of the room to go and put his pants on. "I'll get a pot of tea going while we wait for him. Chai or Oolong?"

As Amaimon and Egyn got into a conversation about which tea to make, I walked over to stare at the demonic koi in the tank. I watched them swim around, occasionally bumping their horny heads together, when someone joined me.

"Interesting to look at, aren't they?" Egyn asked. He'd taken his kimono off, so I could see his pale arms being clasped behind his back. I nodded. After a minute of awkward silence, the king of water sighed deeply. "Well, the tea should be ready. Why don't you come over and we can have a chat."

I followed him over to the low table and saw Amaimon sitting cross-legged on the floor, a cup of steaming tea in his hands. Two more were sitting on the table, full of the chocolate-colored liquid. I picked up a cup and carefully sipped it, not wanting to burn my sensitive demon tongue. The tea was actually pretty good, and not like the stuff Mephisto usually drank. That crap tasted like dirty river water.

"I'm back." Azael's voice reached my ears. He was now wearing a pair of gray-blue jeans. He sat down next to Amaimon, who poured him a cup of tea.

"So, let's discuss about you, little brother!" Egyn raised his cup to me before smiling and bringing it to his lips. "How did you end up in Gehenna? Amai-kun tells me that you try to avoid your demonic side as much as possible."

I blushed and grumbled "I wonder why?" before Amaimon kicked me under the table. How'd he do that so fast when he was sitting cross-legged?

"Ow!" I gave him an I'll-get-you-back-for-that-later glare and explained to my two other brothers about how I was adopted by Father Fujimoto (Egyn had flinched and Azael had shuddered), how my powers had awakened, yada yada. After I'd finished, the two were silent for a long time. Then Egyn pulled Amaimon and Azael in for a huddle, leaving me by myself at the table and feeling completely dissed.

They broke up their huddle and turned towards me. Amaimon looked at me and asked "Little brother, do you know what day the day after tomorrow is?"

"Uh..." I was completely clueless when it came to dates. "Two days from now?"

Amaimon nodded.

"Um..."

Egyn saved me. "It's the 31st of October. Known to humans as All Hallow's Eve or Halloween. Here in Gehenna it's celebrated as Day of Demons, Samhain."

"Oh." A holiday dedicated to demons shouldn't have been celebrated by a paladin. But Father Fujimoto had held a huge bash each year for it, and would pass out candy to the little kids at the church.

"Tomorrow we'll catch a Phantom Train to get to father's palace in time for the celebration. I imagine that demons all over would love to see the young prince."

"Wait a minute! What do you mean tomorrow we'll go to...to..." I couldn't force myself to say it so I changed what I was going to say. "Why should I go? I'm doing this to get Yukio back, not go partying and stuff like that!"

"You do want to find our brother, yes? Then father can help." I growled in defeat at that, feeling my tail curl in frustration.

Egyn pulled me to my feet—damn, that guy was strong!—and practically dragged me out the door, saying, "I'll be right back. Let me just show our little brother to his room."

"Hey! Lemme go!" I struggled against his grip as he led me to a set of doors. Opening them, he showed me inside.

"You can ring for food if you're hungry. Just try to go to bed at a decent hour; we'll be leaving bright and early in the morning," Egyn said. He snapped his fingers and my stuff appeared in a puff of blue smoke, everything except Kurikara. "I'll hold onto your sword for safekeeping, of course. There are supplies in the bathroom, so make sure to freshen yourself up, little brother!"

Egyn grinned and patted me on the head. He was rushing me along so fast that my head was spinning, and I couldn't even yell at him for treating me like a kid. "Okay."

"Don't feel left out, little brother. We just need to talk to Amai-kun for a bit. Azael will be sharing the room with you. Don't let him keep you up."

"Any questions?" Egyn asked cheerfully. I was too confused to answer, so I just shook my head.

"Good! Well, have a nice night, little brother!" And he was gone. I sighed in relief, sitting down on the bed. It was like a waterbed, so it jiggled up and down from the impact of my butt. There was another bed, that one crowded with Azael's laptop, a pair of shorts, and various chip bags, as well as two boxes of Pocky. Glancing around, I snuck forward and grabbed a few of the chocolate-covered sticks.

The room itself was nothing special; it had sea-blue walls with coral design lights. Green curtains were drawn over the one window. It was bigger than my room in Iblis's palace, and had its own bathroom. I peeked inside and saw something that made me cry tears of joy. There was a shower.

I didn't even hesitate. Running to where Egyn had materialized my stuff, I grabbed what I wore as pjs, the sweatshirt and pants, and ran like hell to the bathroom. I locked the door, yanked on the shower, stripped, and threw myself under the hot water, sighing as all the pain and frustration of the past couple of days was washed away.

A good thirty minutes later I was out of the bathroom, feeling satisfied with how the shower had gone. I collapsed on my bed and stared at the wall. I was no longer shocked at going to see Satan; more like angry that I was going to be dragged along to him.

I crossed my arms behind my head and closed my eyes. Somehow, I could here the sounds of an ocean, and it slowly drifted off to sleep, thinking of how I missed my friends and the fun time we'd had before this had all gone down hill.

* * *

"It has been three days. I have been without sure confirmation for three. Days. Do you know why I have been without confirmation of both of my sons' arrival for three days?" The voice simmered with a calm rage as a reptilian byakko trembled beneath the glow of blue flames.

"I'm sorry, my Lord, w-we just got confirmation a few hours ago. We told you as soon as we could, s-sir," the demon bowed its shaking head, waiting to be struck down.

"Hm...I hope for your sake you are telling the truth," Satan mused, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. The Lord of Demons stood from his throne. "Very well, I shall believe you. For now."

The byakko gulped and slunk back ever so slightly as the Devil came to stand in front of it, peering down at the bowing, chest-high demon. "Where is my youngest son being held?" The crimson and white snake inwardly sighed in relief that it wouldn't be spontaneously combusting any time soon.

"In one of the guest room, sir. He still hasn't awoken."

"Ah, I see. You are dismissed." Satan turned on his heel, his robes swishing behind him as he left the throne chamber, making his way towards the guest rooms via passages were he'd have less of a chance of being spotted. He soon came to the room where the youngest of his sons was occupying, knocking quietly. When there wasn't a response, he slowly turned the door knob and slipped inside.

On the bed inside the room, Yukio Okumura lay fast asleep. His brown hair was, for once, disheveled, his eyes shut, his face calm and serene. His glasses were on a nightstand and his exorcist robes were draped over a chair next to the bed.

Satan sat on the chair, trying to make as little noise as possible as he watched his youngest son sleep. In his opinion, Yukio looked much better with his demonic features awakened.

He reached out and held one clawed hand overtop the weakening, flaming horns. He raised his hands and the horns grew in size, if even the smallest bit. Satan turned his attention to the furry, brown appendage lying on the bed. The tip of it sparked with his blue flames, and the Devil couldn't help a tiny smile from finding its way onto his lips.

He leaned forward on the chair, resting his chin on his hands, a habit he'd picked up from one of his older sons. Lucifer, his oldest son and the most powerful of the Eight Demon Kings, had found his younger brother earlier that morning and had brought him to their father's palace, where he'd originally been heading.

Satan began to stand, leaning over his son's bed. He turned, about to leave, when he remembered something Yuri had asked of him once.

_"Your father, the cardinal, does he know about us yet?" He had asked his wife once through their bond as they sat against a tree trunk._

_"No, but it's not like he cares about me. All he cares about is the family image and how I reflect upon him," Yuri muttered. Satan could feel a tear roll down her cheek._

_"Yuri, does he not act like a true father to you?" He suddenly asked, overwhelmed by the urge to confirm that he'd been a good father towards his sons. Funny, he'd almost never thought about things like this before._

_"No...he raised me to be his perfect little doll, just another family emblem. I don't even remember the last time he ever told me he loved me...or when I was younger, he would never kiss me goodnight. Every child deserves the right to be kissed goodnight by their parents, at least once. Every single one!" She said determinedly, putting a fist into the palm of her hand determinedly._

_Satan chuckled fondly, and Yuri accusingly demanded "What's so funny?", but ended up giggling as well, until they were both on the ground laughing._

_"Just promise me something, Satan," Yuri asked softly, lying on her back and staring up at the blue sky through green leaves, the Devil seeing the same beauty as her._

_"Anything, Yuri."_

_"Promise me our child will one day see you, and you'll get the chance to kiss them goodnight. And while you're at it, kiss your other sons goodnight too!" She lightly punched her arm so her husband got the message._

_"Alright, but I do not know how Samael will react to that," Satan sighed, watching a bird chirp and flap its way overhead._

_"I think he'd appreciate it. I think they all would."_

Satan checked to make sure the door was closed, the curtains drawn over the only window, and that no stray coal tars had gotten in. He then leaned over Yukio's bed, and, using the back of his hand to brush strands of brown hair out of the way, uncertainly kissed his forehead. He straightened and made his way silently out of the room, saying at the doorway "Goodnight, my son."

* * *

**Sorry it took so long to update! I hope you liked it.**

**This goes out to all you guys, especially Raidon123. Don't worry, I didn't consider it nagging!**

**The next chapter is tied to Halloween, so there'll be a really quick update. You'll find out what happens soon enough *laughs evilly***

**On another note, I'm going to go as Kuro for Halloween (or Lucifer from The Devil is a Part-Timer)! Tell me what your costumes are through reviews, okay guys! And who knows, maybe it'll get mentioned in the next chapter!**

**ハシピーハロウイソ！ or Happy Halloween! **  
**Yourself in spirit, soul, and blue flames,**  
**VictoryScythefang**


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